The Gemini 2: Return of the Nightwolf (Dayhound Saga Book 4)
by Whatever I want to write about
Summary: Four months after the events of Titans Rising, Daniel Wilson is finally enjoying his life with the Teen Titans. After a mysterious fire burns down a portion of the city, the Dayhound takes it upon himself to fight a mysterious organization called the League of Shadows. In doing so, he encounters a demon from his past that should've disappeared long ago. Completed
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:

If you have not read the previous stories in the Dayhound Saga, it is strongly recommended that you start with those. They are, in order: The Day Will Rise (Book 1), Gemini: Day and Night (Book 2), Titans Rising (Book 3)

Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy it!

"School? You're shitting us, right?" I asked Wonder Woman, who was here for the 3 month inspection. She had just dropped a huge bomb on us. Those of us Titans who could pass for normal people, so Dick Grayson, Koriand'r, Megan Morse, Roy Harper, Donna Troy, Raven, Zatanna Zatara, and Me, had to go to school.

"I'm afraid not. Sorry, but this wasn't my idea. But Superman, Martian Manhunter, and I all agree with it. And you watch your mouth, Daniel Wilson. Language will make people think you're less educated." She scolded me.

It had been four months since my little vacation. Four months since I killed Franco Bertinelli. Four months since Helena Bertinelli was forced to join ARGUS. I didn't know if she was alive or dead. I didn't even know where she was. ARGUS had told her not to contact me, or there would be grave consequences. I missed her, but I knew she was doing this to protect me. For now, all I could do was hope that she was ok. I had never been religious, but Helena was, so I even prayed for her a little, although I didn't know if that's how prayers worked.

"Man, you guys are so lucky..." Garfield Logan, Beast Boy said. "I would love to go to school."

"It's ok B.B., me and you, we'll have awesome times." Victor Stone, Cyborg said, patting him on the back.

"Why do I have to go?" Zatanna complained, "I would've graduated last year, if I had gone to school."

"Because your father said so." Wonder Woman answered, quickly shutting down Zee's question. "Zatanna, Danny, Dick, Megan, Donna, and Kori, you'll be entering High school as seniors, because of your ages. Roy and Raven, since you're a year younger, you'll enter as Juniors. I'm not sure what those terms mean, but that's what it says on this paper."

"Maybe Ollie should've dropped this on us..." Roy muttered.

"I for one, am happy to go to human school!" Kori said excitedly, "I am excited to join in the singing and dancing of my peers!"

I looked over at Dick, very confused.

"She's been watching a lot of tv... Kori, that's not really how high school works."

"I want to know something." I finally spoke up to Wonder Woman, "Why is Superman getting involved in Teen Titan affairs. He doesn't have a sidekick, nor a relative in the Titans. Hell, he wasn't even involved in forming the Titans."

"Um... That brings me to my next... Point... I guess we could say." Wonder Woman said nervously. She opened the curtains in the Common Area. "Ahem... You can come up now."

Almost as soon as she said that, a blonde girl flew up in front of the window. She was wearing a superman-type outfit. She was tall, but not taller than me. She was almost as skinny as Raven.

"Hey guys!" She shouted as she waved and hovered outside the window. She was barely audible outside of the glass.

"Just so we're clear, this was her idea." Wonder Woman said, motioning to the girl. "Titans, this is Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin. She will be joining you all here."

Kara was still waving and smiling a very large smile. She kind of... Fell a little. The best way I can describe it is that she tripped while she was flying. Was that even possible. She quickly caught herself, then went back to waving.

"Kara, head back down to the elevator. These windows don't open." Wonder Woman said. Kara nodded and she flew down. "I need to warn you all about Kara... She has all of Superman's powers. Superman thinks she may even be more powerful than he is, because she hasn't been exposed to the sun since childhood."

"So what's the problem?" Vic asked.

"She is... Kind of clumsy. That is the best way I can describe her."

"Isn't she supposed to be a super human? How can she be clumsy?" Raven asked her, clearly very concerned.

"More importantly, where will she be rooming? There's only ten rooms and there's ten of us." I asked, angrier than I meant it.

"Raven, people who are super can still be clumsy. I'm sure there's more out there than just Kara." Wonder Woman answered Raven's question, "And Danny, that is the part you all won't like. Your rooms are big enough that you all can have bunk mates. I have more bunks in a truck downstairs."

Every single person in the room moaned and complained at that. Wonder Woman tried to calm us all down.

"There's eleven of us, with Kara." Garfield pointed out. "That means someone gets their own room. Who? Who?"

"One of the boys will, since there's five of them." Wonder Woman said. All of the girls complained.

"I vote me," Vic said almost instantly, "I have charging equipment and stuff."

"Ok Victor, you are the one."

Everyone whined and complained until Kara came out of the elevator, holding a large suitcase in one hand and a car bumper in the other.

"Sorry I'm late!" Kara said, plopping the bumper on the ground. Cyborg started silently freaking out. "I sorta fell and and sorta broke this. I tried to put it back on, but I ended up melting the front of the car a little with my heat vision..."

"The T-Car! My baby!" Cyborg yelled as he picked up the bumper with two hands and ran in the elevator.

"Sorry!" Kara yelled as the elevator shut. "I hope it's ok. I really didn't mean to break anything."

"We know, Kara." Wonder Woman said, "I left your school schedules and stuff on your new room doors. Have a nice day. Danny, stay back with Kara and me."

Everyone went to look for their new rooms while Wonder Woman, Kara, and I stayed back. I heard lots of whining and complaining coming from the wings, but Wonder Woman started talking.

"Danny, you'd say you're the best hand to hand combatant here, right?"

"Well, I did manage to beat Kori despite her amazing strength advantage." I said, bragging a little. Then I got suspicious. "Why?"

"Have you met Kara? She wants to learn to fight.


	2. Chapter 2

I was rooming with Gar, which was not the worst of situations for me at least. I could tell that he was a little scared of me, but that was ok.

We had the room at the end of the hall on the north wing. It sucked that I had to move my stuff, but I was happy that I wasn't with Dick or Roy. I liked those guys... Most of the time. They both had this same quality that made them annoying, but I couldn't place my finger on it. Everyone else noticed it too. Even Dick and Roy found each other annoying a lot of the time.

The room next to us was Kori and Kara. Kori was a little loud, but she was fine. Kara, from what I understood, was very, very clumsy. I really hoped I didn't end up with any accidental holes in my wall.

"Hey Danny!" Kara said after I had moved my stuff to my new room. "Um... Can we train now? I think we should get started."

"Why do you want to train now?" I said, sitting down on the couch in the Common Area, "Don't you want to, I don't know, get settled in or something?"

"I was thinking that if the city was under attack that I would at least know how to fight a little." She said shyly.

"Kara, have you ever actually been hurt?" I asked her, coldly.

"Well what do you mean?"

"Have you ever actually felt pain? At all?"

"Um... No..." She said, playing with her hair nervously. I took her hand and put it down on the table. "What are you...?"

I grabbed a large carving knife and stabbed her hand hard. It didn't even pierce the skin at all. In fact, her hand shattered the blade.

"What the hell?" Kara yelled pulling her hand back.

"Did that hurt?" I asked her angrily.

"Well... No... But I-"

"Exactly. You don't need to learn how to fight when anyone you fight can't touch you." I yelled at her. She looked hurt, but didn't say anything else. She walked over to the North Wing, and pulled open the door. She broke it off, yelled that she was sorry, then ran off to her room.

"God, Danny, you know you don't have to be big scary Dayhound all the damn time!" Megan yelled at me, then she ran after Kara. Megan and I had sort of grown apart. I don't really know why, but it was probably my fault. I was kind of a douche, apparently.

I knew that someone else on the team would try and talk to me, so I sped to the elevator. I went down to the combat training room on floor 7, and started beating a heavy bag.

The next morning, I was woken up early by Gar.

"Danny, wake up!" He said, shaking me.

"Ugh... What time is it?" I groaned into my pillow.

"6:30. You gotta go to school."

"No thanks..."

"Ok, if that's how you want to play it..."

I heard him transform, but my eyes were closed. I was almost back to sleep.

"Cock-a-doodle-do!" I heard a Rooster crow loudly. Shit.

I sat up in my bed, and grabbed the green rooster by his feet. He squawked, then changed into a tiger and fell on top of me. Then he changed back into Gar.

"Sorry about that, Danny." He said, slightly embarrassed as he got off of me. "I just... I can't go to school so you gotta for me."

"Damn you, Garfield." I whispered, half joking. I got up, worked out a little, then hopped in the shower. There was a line when I got out. There were only two showers in the whole building, which made trying to get in the shower kind of chaotic.

We pulled up at the school at 8:00 am. I hadn't taken public transit in a long time, and the buses in San Fransisco weren't any better than the ones in Gotham.

"Ok, Team," Dick said quietly once we had all gathered together off the bus. What was this? He'd been to school before. "Here's the plan: we spread out, make friends, and eat lunch together to report our progress."

"Dude," Roy said calmly, "Don't get your shorts in a twist. It's school, not a high risk mission. I know for a fact you've been to school."

Dick blushed, then looked over at Kori quickly. THAT was what was up with him. Kori, as far as I knew, was the only girl besides Barbara Gordon that Dick had ever had a crush on.

"Fine. Just do whatever. I'll text you guys if the city is under attack or something. Cyborg and Beast Boy will let me know if they can't handle it. Kori, Raven, and Kara you remember your backstories?"

"Yes!" Kori said excitedly, "My name is Kori Anders. I am 17 years old, I moved here from northern Canada (which by the way, I don't know where that is), which is why I do not know much about the area or the customs."

"Raven?" Dick asked.

"I'm Raven Roth... 16... Moved here from Gotham."

"Good. And Kara?"

"I'm Kara Kent. I'm 17 years old, and I moved here from Smallville, Kansas. I got it, right?"

"Perfect." Dick said, giving her a high five.

"Isn't there anymore I could have? Like, what are my interests?" Kara asked him.

"Just make them up." He said simply.

"Ok. Well, we know one of my interests isn't martial arts..." She muttered quietly, glaring at me. I shrugged.

"You two, get along. Titans, go!" He whispered. Kori grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away to socialize. Kara followed them. Roy, Meg, and Donna went a different direction. Zatanna had left us right when we got off the bus. Raven and I were left alone.

"I've never... Really been that social." Raven said quietly.

"I used to be. Sort of. In Gotham I was. Before that, I lived in Metropolis. I didn't really have friends there..." I said, awkwardly. God, that felt like so long ago. It was only two years ago that I moved to Gotham though. It felt like a damn lifetime.

"I really don't know a lot about you, do I?" Raven asked, sounding sadder than she was.

"I could say the same about you." I said, trying to sound happier. "We should change that."

She blushed. It stood out a lot against her pale skin. It was kind of cute.

"Um... Pff... Yeah..." She said, sounding quite flustered. She hit me softly in the shoulder. "I will... I'll see you around."

Raven walked quickly away. I didn't know where, but that girl could disappear pretty easily. What had just happened?


	3. Chapter 3

After a moment of standing by the front of the school awkwardly, I decided to go find my locked. It felt weird, being back in school after a year of not having to go. It felt like I didn't belong there, like I was too old.

I was only 18, so I wasn't too old, but it felt like I had outgrown my old life in two years. I had kind of been forced to grow up in these past two years, since I had no real family left.

I found my locker. It was one of those old ones that doesn't open with ease. I groaned and cursed after each failed attempt, but managed to open it after three tries.

A tall blonde boy approached me with a dark haired girl clutching his hand. She kind of reminded me of Helena. Her eyes were a dull blue though, not like Helena's, which were bright and unique. The girl's face wasn't nearly as pretty as Helena's either. She just wore a lot of makeup.

"What's your name kid?" The boy said. He was quite muscular, so I assumed he was one of the jock kids. He and Kam would've gotten along great.

"Daniel Wilson. Call me Danny." I said, sounding as uninteresting as possible.

"Danny. Got it. Name's Justin Call. Where are you from, Danny?" The kid asked. I thought about saying Gotham, but for some reason, the name didn't come out.

"I'm from Metropolis." I spat out. Why did I say that? Why was this kid talking to me?

"You a Supers fan then?" He asked me. He was referring to the Metropolis Supers, the city's professional football team. I had heard Kam have almost this exact conversation before.

"Nah, I'm more of a Gotham Owls fan." I said, lying. I had no idea about football, but my brother did. The Gotham Owls were his favorite team.

"Straight up! Gimme some!" Justin said, holding his hand up for a high five. I decided to humor him, so I slapped his hand.

"You look like you'd be pretty fast. You play at all?" Was he asking me if I played football.

"Not really. My brother was the football player in the family. I was more of a baseball guy." I said, joking with myself. That last part had been a lie, but kind of a joke. I had used a bat during fights up until 4 or 5 months ago when I lost in in a bank robbery. I hadn't gotten it replaced. I fully intended to, but I had gotten very used to the telescoping baton that Batman had given me.

"Shame. We haven't had a good running back in a while. Not since Vic."

"Vic? As in, Victor Stone?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Nah, I just remember reading articles about him. Didn't he get in a car accident or something?" I lied again. Victor Stone was my friend and teammate on the Titans. He was Cyborg: Genius, Inventor, Gear Head, and Powerhouse. It was no surprise to me that he was running back on his high school team before his accident.

"Yeah. Kind of. He was saving this lady and her daughter from a car that was on fire. The car exploded while he was trying to save the little girl's dog."

"Damn... That bites..."

"Yeah. He's still alive though."

The bell rang after that. Justin said he'd see me around. He and the girl ran off to class. I had to go to my first class: gym.

I really connected to my last gym teacher, Coach Crock. Not as much as my brother had, but he had really been there for me when my mom died. I saw him when I went to the Gotham High Prom with Babs, but that had been the very last time I saw him.

This gym teacher was named Dr. Ortega. He was a short man with a combover and a thin mustache. I could tell within 15 minutes of meeting the guy that he and I weren't going to get along.

"Ok everyone, lets start off this class with a mile." He had said, once we all were in the gym. Everyone, including me, groaned. I was in good enough shape to run a mile no problem, but I didn't like to. We started running. I was the first one done. I was barely even sweating.

"You!" Ortega said, pointing at me, "What's your name?"

"Daniel Wilson." I said, not thinking anything of it.

"Wilson, because you seem to have enjoyed that a little too much, you and the whole class gets to run two more miles. Here that everyone? Two more miles after your first one." Ortega yelled at the class. Everyone groaned. "Don't blame me, blame Wilson here!"

Some people gave me death glares as I passed them. One boy, who was fairly large, threatened to kill me. Great way to make friends on the first day, Danny.

I practically sprinted my last two miles. That way I was tired enough so Dr. Ortega wouldn't make us go even more miles.

The rest of the time we just tested our physical fitness. As much as Ortega seemed to hate me already, he did seem impressed with the shape I was in. If he knew who I actually was... This thought made me laugh.

Fortunately for me, he didn't punish the rest of the class on my behalf for the remainder of the class. Everyone still hated me because of the two extra miles, but at least they didn't hate me even more.

My next class was calculus. Why the hell was I in calculus? As much as I loved Wonder Woman, she didn't do a very good job with picking my classes. Meg was there too.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" I said, sitting by Megan.

"What happened?" She asked, laughing.

"Let's just say the gym teacher, he's not fun at all." I said in a groaning manner.

"Great..." She said sarcastically, "That's my next class. Hey, did you say you were from Gotham?"

"No. I said I was from Metropolis."

"Oh good." She said, clearly relieved.

"Why is that so good?" I asked, faking offense to her relief. She laughed and shoved me softly.

"Nothing. I just thought since I'm from Gotham, and Raven's from Gotham, AND Dick is from Gotham, you shouldn't be. It's really suspicious."

"Damn, who are you? Batman?"

"I might just be." Meg giggled. It was very cute. Dammit Meg, why the hell did you have to be so cute? It made not liking her very difficult. "I CAN transform into anyone I want to."

"Huh... I forgot about that power. How come you never do it?"

Meg shrugged. "I dunno, it never came up, I guess."

"Excuse me, you two." The calculus teacher, Ms. Aldo, butted in to our quiet conversation, "Some people are trying to learn. You may want to do the same."

Both Meg and I apologized simultaneously. We were pretty much quiet throughout the whole class. I had zoned out though, so I learned next to nothing.

Meg rushed out of class, so I missed my chance to talk to her more. I was not looking forward to my next class, which was a home economics class.

"Danny! Hey, Danny!" I heard that kid, Justin, calling from down the hall.

"What's up?" I asked him as he approached.

"Football tryouts. You in?"

"I uh... I have class."

"You can skip. School excused, bruh."

"Well shit, why didn't you lead with that?"


	4. Chapter 4

I wasn't huge into football ever. I went to a few of my brother's games in Metropolis, even less games in Gotham though, since I was busy being a hero and all. I was pretty sure I knew most of the rules, but I had Justin give me a little refresher discreetly. The guy was so air headed that it was pretty easy to trick him into telling me the rules without him thinking anything of it. I just asked him his favorite positions, his favorite plays, his favorite touchdowns last season, etc. He had pretty much acted out the whole games for me on the way to tryouts. Anything I wasn't sure of after that I would be sure to ask Vic later.

Much to my relief, Dr. Ortega was not the football coach. It was a soft-spoken teacher named Mr. Willis. Supposedly, he was loud like a lion during the games, but it was too early in my football career to find out.

"Ok, some of you have already made it on the team." Mr. Willis practically whispered. He as a tall, formerly muscular and handsome man. The years had noticeably caught up with him though. "If you were Varsity last year, run the track until I can get these boys sorted out."

A few of the boys left and started running, while the rest of us stayed behind. Justin, much to my surprise, stayed back as well. He had to have been varsity last year, right? What did that even mean?

Coach Willis started to go down the list that we had all written our names on and name off positions he wanted us to play during the scrimmage, which was apparently a practice game. When he got to my name, which was last on the list, Justin spoke before Coach did.

"Coach, if I may!" He shouted earnestly.

"Justin? You're supposed to be running laps." Coach quietly said. This guy was the coach? Coaches were supposed to be loud, right?

"Yes, but I really think you should put Wilson on running back. Look at him. He's built exactly like a running back. AND Dr. Ortega said he sprinted two miles during gym." Justin blurted out. Was that why he hung back? To vouch for me.

"Sprinted? Two miles?" The coach asked unbelievingly. "Alright, here's the deal. I'm giving this kid one play as running back, against the varsity defenders. Justin, you hand the ball to him on the hike and we'll see how well Wilson does."

Great... Just great.

I tried to express to Justin how l didn't want to do this, but he told me that I could drop out of Home Ec if I made the team, and that was too much to pass up on.

"Down... Set... Hut." The center guy started the play once we were all lined and geared up. The big guy, the one who threatened to kill me in gym class was making eye contact with me from the other side of the line. It was not happy eye contact either. I gulped. "Hut. Hut. Hike!"

The center threw the ball back to Justin, who handed it to me. I made a break for it. I wasn't exactly sure what I could do now, so I vaulted over the line onto the defensive side. I made it past most everyone pretty well. The big guy was standing in my way though. I tried to juke around him, but he met my jukes exactly the way you're supposed to. Well, if you can't go around, you gotta go through.

I charged forward, slamming the big guy in the helmet with my forearm. He fell to the ground, rolling, and I kept running. I ran fast and I ran hard. No wonder Kam liked this game so much. I made it to the end zone and spiked the ball hard onto the ground, sending it bouncing off to who-knows-where. Justin ran up to me and gave me a hard high five. The rest of the offensive side told me how great that was. Even the defensive side congratulated me, save the big guy who I'd plowed over. He just stared at me, angrily.

"Haha, dude, Danny, don't worry about Miles." Justin said lightly, noticing the large kid's venomous glare, "He's not so bad once you get to know him."

The coach jogged over, a look of glee covered his face.

"Wilson," he said, panting slightly from his jog, "If you run like that for every game, I have half a mind to start you in every game. But next time, I would prefer you didn't elbow your teammates."

He handed me a jersey. We spent the rest of practice running. I spent the rest of practice avoiding that Miles kid.

It was finally time for lunch. All of the Titans had agreed to meet in the courtyard and discuss progress. This was Dick's idea, but I went along with it because I actually did want to see how everyone was doing.

"Hey Danny," I heard Kara say next to me as I was walking towards the courtyard. She came up and started walking next to me, but started to trip. I quickly grabbed her arm and steadied her. "Thanks. Sorry! How have you been?"

"Aren't you supposed to already know that? Super hearing and all?" I asked her, trying to seem as nice as possible.

"Maybe. I kind of... Tune out everything. Most things." She told me, adjusting her large framed glasses. She had inherited more than just the outfit of Superman I suppose. "If I am actually listening for something I listen to more things than just the stuff I want to. If I didn't tune out most things most of the time, I would probably go insane."

"How far exactly can you hear?" I asked her, genuinely curious about this stuff.

"I have no idea. I hear the wind rustling through a forest. That's the furthest I can hear. But that could be pretty much anywhere..."

"Right, right." I said calmly. I pulled open the door to the outside. I motioned for her to go through. She said something about how I was being too gentlemanly. I'm sure it was a compliment, but it came out kind of awkwardly, so it didn't seem like one.

Everyone else, except for Megan and Donna, was sitting at a table by a large, old oak tree. Dick saw us and motioned for Kara and I to come over.

"Hello my friends!" Kori said once we were within range to be hugged. I didn't like to be hugged, but Kori was so strong that I didn't have much of an option. "Daniel, how was your day at Earth School! Mine was wonderful! There are so many magnificent things here!"

"Kori, love the enthusiasm, but I've been to, what? Three different high schools now? They are all kind of the same, and they all suck." I said calmly. Kori stopped hugging me and looked at me strangely, like I was speaking a foreign language.

"Kori, if it's any consolation," Kara said, pulling me away from Koriand'r with much ease, "unlike Mr. Always-Negative over here, I am enjoying this new school so far. I've been home schooled up until now and so far, normal high school is exactly like I thought it would be. It's pretty great."


	5. Chapter 5

"I am so elated to hear that, Kara my friend!" Kori said, hugging her. This "new world enthusiasm" of Kori's was cute at first, but it had started to get straight up annoying to me. Dick, on the other hand, seemed to fall more and more for the Tamaranian as the days went by. I kind of worried for him, but it was good to see him actually getting over Barbara Gordon, Batgirl. Especially since I hadn't told him that Babs and I almost had sex four months ago. It didn't end well though. Batman and I were tracking a serial killer at the time, and I cracked the case literally right before we were about to make love. She got upset about that, and we haven't really spoken since. If Dick found out, he would be pissed at me for almost screwing her, AND he would be pissed at me for hurting her like that. He was better off falling for Kori and just not knowing about Babs and I.

Meg and Donna came over, smiling like they knew something we all didn't. They giggled loudly, obviously faking it.

"Uh... Hey you guys?" Roy greeted, clearly confused as the rest of us. "What's going on?"

They looked at each other, laughed, then looked at me.

"Hey Danny, anything new?" Donna asked, smiling. Great... It was about me.

"Um... I'm guessing you're gonna tell me what's new." I said suspiciously.

"Well, actually, I guess it's TWO things." Meg said, laughing more. "Congrats on making the football team for starters."

Everyone looked at me, completely shocked. I was kind of offended by their shocked judgements, but my offense was quickly interrupted by Donna.

"That's right, squad!" She said, playing up this whole thing. Donna and Meg totally discussed this whole thing beforehand. "You're looking at Bay High School's new starting, varsity running back."

"You're kidding, right Donna?" Zatanna asked. She was clearly unimpressed. I was even shocked by that, since varsity was apparently the best players on the team.

"Damn Danny, I didn't even know you knew how to play football. Or any sport, for that matter." Dick said, slapping me on the back.

"Kam played football remember? I picked up a little. The rest was easy enough to pretend." I said, punching Dick lightly in the shoulder.

"Who is Kam? Is he someone we know?" Kori asked innocently. I shot her a confused look. I was sure that I'd talked about him around her before.

"He is... Was... My brother. My twin." I told her. It came out sadder than I meant for it to be.

"I did not know you had a brother, Daniel! Can we meet him?" She asked, completely oblivious to my tone.

"Kori... Kam's dead." I told her bluntly. I watched the instant shift between happiness and grief. That was the first time I had seen Kori actually sad. It was not a nice sight.

"Oh... Daniel, I'm so sorry. I didn't-"

"It's fine. It was over a year ago." I said, trying to sound ok. I couldn't believe how sad I was about Kam after a year. "What's the other 'news' about me, Meg?"

"I uh... Yeah... Right." She said awkwardly. No one really knew what to say about what had just happened. Meg shook her head quickly, then changed her tone instantly, "Danny asked the head cheerleader, Quinlan Kay, to homecoming?"

"What?!" Everyone, including me, yelled simultaneously.

"I did no such thing. I don't even know this Quinlan chick!" I yelled. "It's the first day of school! What the hell?"

"Well, Quinlan told us at cheer tryouts that you did, so I guess she's spreading rumors about you."

Everyone looked around. All the titans were clearly very confused. Even Meg and Donna were. Why the hell was this Quinlan chick spreading rumors about me?

The bell rang, and everyone except for Meg and me cleared out. I had a lot of questions, and I think she knew that. Maybe she read my mind.

"Meg, I don't even know Quinlan Kay. Who the hell is she?"

"Here, let me show you." Meg said, putting her fingers on my temples. An image popped into my mind. A girl in a cheerleader outfit. The same girl who was with Justin when he first met me. Shit.

"I figured she looked enough like Helena that you just... I don't know."

"Could you... Um... 'Figure' out for me?" I asked her. She looked down at the ground, clearly disheartened. I stepped closer and grabbed her shoulder softly, "Meg, you know I wouldn't ask if this wasn't important to me. She's up to something. I only saw her once. I didn't even know her name."

"Danny, I need you to know that I care about you, but I can't do that. When I start using my powers willy-nilly, I might start using them without restraint. Heroes don't use their powers for selfish reasons, and I don't want to get to that point."

"Ok..." I said sadly, "I understand. It's fine. Sorry I asked."

"Don't think for a minute that I don't care about you, you silly boy. You're my best friend." She said, grabbing my wrist. Her brown eyes were wide and shiny. I almost tried her kiss her. What the hell was wrong with me? "If you didn't ask Quinlan, I think you should ask Raven."

"Why?"

"I think she likes you. I am rooming with her, and she asked about you quite a bit last night. Not in a weird way though, I promise!" She said. That last part was added hastily. I laughed.

"Get to class, Miss Martian." I said, winking, "I'll see you later."

She smiled, tossed her hair to one side, then walked away. God, what the hell was wrong with me? Why was I still flirting with Meg so much? I touched the piece of cold silver chained around my neck. The silver arrowhead with the cross engraved into it. Helena's necklace. It hung just below my shirt's neckline. I needed to stop flirting so much. Helena probably wasn't flirting with whatever teammates she had.

Of course, on the other hand, she could be dead. I wouldn't know if she was dead or alive. She would want me to move on if she were dead.

I decided I better head to class too. I walked in to my English class late, but the teacher, a short, dark-bearded man by the name of Mr. Patterson, didn't take much more of it. He was talking about useless, first day of school stuff that I had heard every single first day of school for every year I went to school. I zoned out through this class as well.

This class ended more quickly than I thought it would, and I rushed to my next class speedily, hoping that I wouldn't run into Justin or Miles or that Quinlan chick. I was too ready to go home then hit the streets and crack some bones. I had gotten significantly less violent in these past few months, but I was still the most brutal member of the Titans, but I was ok with that.

My last class was chemistry. The teacher, Mr. Dagon, was some sort of hippy. He wore a buttoned-down Hawaiian shirt with an old Jimi Hendrix concert tee underneath. He was also wearing sweatpants and sandals. He was completely bald, except for his thick white beard that was grown down to the top of his shirt. He was a thin, lanky man. This made his pot belly look even more out of place.

Dick was also in that class, so I figured I better sit at the same table as him so I could be his lab partner.

"What's up, Brother?" Dick said excitedly when I took a seat next to him. I gave him a high five.

"Nothing much, how about you?" I said happily. As much as Dick annoyed me sometimes, he was a good guy. And he was the closest thing I had to a brother since Kam died.

"Same. The hands have seen better days." He replied, using a code phrase that Batman had come up with. He was telling me to look at his hands. He was moving them in a special pattern. Batman's own special sign language. To communicate in places where we couldn't talk. Dick and I used it mostly now to talk about other people without them knowing.

"Don't look." Dick said in what we called Batman Sign Language, "Crazy behind us."

I used the mirror on the table to look behind us. Quinlan was sitting there, in the seat at the table directly behind ours, twirling her dark hair with her finger.

"Shit..." I breathed out, almost silently. Dick nodded, indicating that he'd heard me.

"Alright guys," Mr. Dagon said loudly. He had a very calming voice. He probably had a radio job at one point. "I know you wanna sit by your friends, or shit like that, but the man, aka the principal, is making me pair you up by knowledge of science and shit. He even gave me this lame-ass test to give you guys."

The whole class groaned. I couldn't believe how chilled out this guy was. He was probably high. He passed out the test and told us all to answer the best we could. I knew that Dick and I would f be paired up after this test. Batman made us memorize the whole periodic table and about a million different chemical formulas. I could've just tried to get all the questions wrong, but I think Dick would've been pissed because I didn't do what I was supposed to.

They were pretty simple questions, but they got harder as you went along. Atomic mass of such-and-such, if you mix chemical A with chemical B what would happen, that kind of stuff. I knew the answer to most of that stuff, but there were two or three questions that I had to guess on. There wasn't any visible pattern in the answers either. It was computer generated randomly.

Once the test was done, Dagon took the tests to the office to have them scanned.

"How did you do?" Dick asked me once the teacher had left the room.

"How do you think?" I asked sarcastically. Dick laughed.

"Well, I guess some of his training came in handy." Dick said, wringing his hands together. He had something to say.

"What?" I asked him, cocking an eyebrow.

"Who is Jason Todd, Danny?"


	6. Chapter 6

My mind flashed back to the first night I met the Huntress, Helena's vigilante alter ego. She and I had just stopped a bank robbery, then she disappeared. Batman and I were headed back to the Batmobile when we met him: Jason Todd. He was an 8 year old kid trying to steal the hubcaps off of the Batmobile. I was about to yell at him, maybe give him a soft punch. Batman, on the other hand, showed me a side of him that I had never seen before. Maybe Dick had seen it, all those years ago, after his parents were murdered, but I had never had that privilege until Jason Todd came around.

"He's um..." I started to say. I switched to Batman Sign Language: "He's Batman's new soldier."

"Shit..." He whispered. I was about to ask what was wrong, but then Dagon came in.

"Alright guys, results are in. Here's your new lab partners. If I say your name first, go sit by the person you're partnered with."

Dick and I were not partnered together. I was the last on the list, of course. God, I hated being named Wilson. I was always frigging last.

"Alright, and Danny Wilson, you're with... Quinlan Kay." Dagon said, finally reading my name off the list. Shit. Shit. Shit. Of damn course I was. Shit.

"Hey Danny." Quinlan said coyly as I sat next to her. "Remember me, right? I was with Justin this morning."

"Yeah, I remember." I said coldly. She looked a lot more like Helena this time. Her eyes still weren't the same though.

"Shit... I guess you've heard about the shit people have been saying then." Quinlan said bluntly.

"You mean the stuff you've been saying?" I asked rudely.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I have been saying you asked me to homecoming, but what I meant was you were going to ask me." She said, rubbing my shoulder. I pulled my shoulder away. "I saw you checking me out when I was with Justin."

"Yeah, and I thought you were WITH Justin."

"No, silly, Justin and I are just friends." She told me, placing a hand on my chest. I looked over at the teacher. Dagon was just looking at his computer. He wasn't going to help me much. I pulled her hand off of me.

"Justin is just QB." Quinlan explained seductively, "QB's are wimps and they don't have any stamina."

I scooted my chair away from her and turned to my notebook. I scratched down what was on the board.

"Oh, you're Catholic? No wonder you're so unreceptive." She said to me. I looked up at her, confused. Then I remembered Helena's necklace. It hung out over the table. I put it back down my shirt.

"I'm not Catholic. That was given to me. It was a memento."

"Sentimental. I like it."

"No, it's not... Ugh. You know why I was... Checking you out, I guess?"

"Why?"

"Because you look like someone I knew."

"Maybe I am her?" She smiled and scooted closer. I was not amused.

"You're not. One hundred percent, you're not." I whispered angrily. I was getting seriously mad.

"Damn, Hostile. Ok, I get it. She's the Catholic one then?"

"Yeah... Sort of."

"That bites. She's probably at some catholic school right now because she ran with you, huh? I knew I was right when I pegged you as a bad boy."

"Yeah, something like that." That wasn't the truth, but the truth, that Helena was an ARGUS agent, was too hard to explain to her, not to mention it would expose my secret identity.

The bell finally rang, releasing me from this unpleasantness. I practically ran out of the school and onto the bus to head back to the secret tunnel entrance to the Tower. Today was kind of a crap day.

I got home before anyone else. To unwind, I did a 30 minute wooden dummy training session. Kung fu was something that Batman surprisingly hadn't been able to teach me a lot about. He said he knew a bit, but thought it was too flashy to be practical. Most of the Kung fu I learned I had to learn myself.

My fighting style for when I was the Dayhound was unique. Originally, Batman had tried to teach me to fight exactly like him, but I couldn't pick it up as fast as he wanted, so he taught me a different way. Boxing was a huge part of me, combat-wise. Batman had learned it from an old former superhero named Wildcat, and I picked it up quickly. It was an easier martial art to get, but hard to master. As fast as I was now, I had no problem boxing most of my opponents. It wasn't until a year ago that I replaced most of Batman's karate with Kung Fu. Most of the opponents I faced who were skilled in martial arts were not very familiar with Kung fu. I also thought it made me look cool. Finally, with those two disinclines mastered, I threw in some Jujutsu, Greco wrestling, and some judo. I was satisfied with this way of fighting. It made me a lethal and unpredictable opponent, and gave me some effective tools for fighting groups. I should've come up with a name for it. Maybe after I'd retired I could teach it.

About 30 minutes in, my open palm did not make contact with the dummy. It had been stopped midair. It took me a second to realize that Kara, wearing a workout tank top and yoga pants, had been standing there, grabbing my wrist. I tried to force it out of her hand, but she was incredibly strong. She wasn't wearing her glasses and her golden hair was pulled up in a ponytail.

"Listen here, Daniel Wilson," she yelled menacingly, "You're gonna teach me how to fight the right way, or I am going to take you up to an altitude that you can't breathe at, drop you, then catch you just before you hit the ground and do it all over again until you die of shock, got it?"

I looked her in the eyes, grabbed her wrist with my other hand, then pressed my thumb very hard in a couple of places on the underside of her arm, hoping that would work. To my fortune, it did. I was able to control her fingers enough for me to wiggle my wrist free. I grabbed her shoulder and threw her over my hips, into the wall across the room. I was not expecting someone so strong to be so light, but she was 130 lbs at the most. Probably not even that.

Kara was mad now. Her pupils glowed red. It kind of scared me a little. She rushed over to me as supersonic speed and picked me up by the throat with one hand. I cupped my hands to make my fingers points. I slammed both of these points on her ears, but it didn't affect her at all. In fact, it hurt me a lot more than it hurt her. She tossed me to the other side of the room, where I slammed into the wall hard.

"I am really tired of you super humans throwing me around the room." I groaned as I stood up. It was clear that I was not going to win this if I just wanted to go toe-to-toe with Supergirl. I had to figure out something.

Luckily, I had much faster reactions than she did. She flew at me, holding a fist up. It was very clear what she was trying to do. I stepped out of the way of her powerful punch last second. She punched through the wall. I decided to blast her with a spell.

I was rusty when it came to magic. I practiced it usually once every two months. It wasn't that I didn't want to get better, it was just that I never remembered like I did my combat training. I saw results of combat training in the field. I usually never used magic.

The best spell I could come up with at that moment was a heat wave spell. It was pretty much a twist of the knock back spell that John Constantine had taught me a while back. It was very hot though.

Supergirl flew backwards after coming in contact with the wave. She groaned as she stood up. What? Had that hurt her? I decided to test it.

I quickly cast a spell around my fists. This covered them in a dark gray mist-like substance. Pretty much all I did was enchant my fists to make my punches magical. It sounds stupid, and it doesn't make much sense, but magic never made sense.

Kara swung at me wildly. It was very telegraphed and very sloppy. I slipped it, then countered with a quick jab to test the waters, if you will.

Her head snapped back and an expression of pain covered her face. Holy shit, it had actually worked? Before she could recover, I punched her in the stomach. She doubled over, but was back to her feet quickly. She grabbed my neck, but I slapped both sides of her face. She clutched her head then stumbled backwards a few steps.

"How the hell are you doing this?" She asked, more impressed than angry. "I haven't felt pain since I left Krypton."

"I'm not really sure..." I said, wondering how far this would let me go. Could I kill her if I wanted to? "Keep coming at me. I'll teach you to fight, but I want to see how much you know."

She charged me quickly, and I ducked under her punch as quick as it came. I returned this hard punch with about twenty of my own, each of which was quick and solid.

"Ow, shit, Danny, I'm done! Why can't I hit you? I'm faster and stronger." She yelled in frustration, rubbing her head where I had hit her.

"Your punches are sloppy though. Look, here is how you are hitting:" I explained. I pulled her over to the heavy bag and punched it like she was trying to hit me. A wide, slow punch that was completely from the arm. "You should be punching like this:" I jabbed the bag, "Or like this:" I threw a hard left hook at it.

Kara tried to copy my demonstration punches. She wasn't punching a bag, she was just copying them in the air as I showed her.

"My way feels stronger though. I could probably hurt someone more. That's what it feels like, anyways."

"That's because you're doing it wrong. Here, let me teach you how to box. Left or right handed?"

"Right."

"Ok, so stand like this. Left foot forward, stay on your toes, hands up under your chin. Don't clench your fists. It uses up energy."

After about 5 minutes, she finally got the stance right. She threw a few punches, but she was still doing it wrong.

"Kara, you need to twist your hips more. You're just punching with your arms. You need to involve your whole body in the punch."

"What?"

"Here, let me show you." I finally said in frustration. I walked up to her. "Pivot your feet. Turn your shoulders. Rotate your hips..."

I stopped awkwardly. We were standing really closely and my hands were on her hips. This was getting a little to weird. I quickly backed up. We were both red faced.

"Sorry, I uh... Sorry." I said, rubbing the back of my head with one hand.

"It's ok. You're fine, you didn't... Yeah." She stammered out.

"Anyways... Let's just finish up here real quick. This bag should be good enough for you. Vic uses it to train. It's 2,000 pounds. It's damn solid."

"Alright... Here goes..." Kara said, squaring up to the bag. She fired an amazing straight cross that put a hole in the bag. She tried to cover the hole to prevent the sand inside from spilling out. I started laughing. "Oh shit! Sorry!"

"Don't be, Kara! That was great! That's all for today, because I need to figure out a way for you to be able to actually hit something without breaking it, but good job for today." I said, slapping her on the back. She went upstairs. I followed a few minutes later after I had patched the heavy bag.


	7. Chapter 7

I was on my way to shower when I ran into Raven. Not literally, but we did that thing where one of us tries to go one way, but the other tries to go the same way by accident.

"Oh, jeez, sorry." I said, joking. I saw her smile briefly.

"It's fine." She said, patting my shoulder, "You're uh... A little sweaty."

"Haha, well workouts will do that to you." I replied laughing, "I really need to hit the shower."

"Damn, yeah you do." She said, jokingly, covering her nose and fanning her hand in front of her face. I heard Meg's voice in my head, telling me to ask Raven out. It may have actually been Meg talking in my head with her telepathy, but I had no clue if it actually was or not.

"Hey, I don't smell that bad, do I?" I said with a smile.

"Sure pal..." Raven replied, patting my shoulder again. She started to walk around me down the hall. I was missing my chance. Helena flashed in my mind. Would she be ok with this, if she were alive? If I were in her position and she were in mine, would I be ok with it.

Raven was about 10 feet away now. The door was only 5 away from her. If I was gonna do this, I had to act fast.

"Hey Raven, wait up." I called to her as I ran up. I leaned against the wall with one arm, trying to look somewhat cool. I probably just ended up looking like a major tool, but I was too nervous to care. "Do you um... Do you wanna go out sometime?"

"Like, on a date?" She cocked an eyebrow. Her tone made it sound like she were surprised or disgusted. I gulped loudly.

"Uh... Yeah. I mean, unless you don't want to. I mean, we could still hang out without it being a date if you wanted but it's whatever." I stammered out awkwardly. God, why was I so nervous?

"Sure, I guess." She said. I couldn't tell what she meant by that besides the fact that she would go out with me sometime. "When?"

"Soon. I don't know. Maybe this Friday?" I said. To make matters worse, my voice cracked at the end. I was probably blushing a lot. I felt like I was sweating buckets. Why the hell was I so nervous?

"Yeah, that works. Now get in the shower you crazy kid." She said, pushing me softly. I smiled, then went into the bathroom.

Once I was in the bathroom, I felt like I was gonna throw up, but it never came. I hopped in the shower, then felt a little better.

I changed into my costume, then went to the common area to see what was up for tonight. According to the Watchtower's Crime Tracker Computer, it was supposed to be a pretty slow night. I didn't exactly trust the computer, but so far it hadn't been that wrong, so I didn't make my opinion known.

We decided to split up into teams to go on patrol. I was with Cyborg in the T-Car. We rolled around the city, looking for crime to stop, joking around, and listening to 90's "gangsta" rap music, which, according to Vic, was "the best rap there was." I wasn't sure if I agreed with him, but a lot of the songs were pretty great.

"Hey Vic, can I ask you something?" I said, turning down the music. Now was the perfect time to ask him about football.

"As long as it doesn't have something to do with how I go to the bathroom, sure." He told me, joking.

"In football," I started to ask him, "Is there a point limit? Like, if a team reaches a certain score does the game end?"

"Nah. Technically, a team could score as many points as the clock lets them. The only way the game can end is if the time runs out in the fourth quarter. Also, the teams can't be tied, otherwise the game goes into overtime."

"Alright, alright... And where does the running back stand?"

"The running back usually stands behind the fullback, who stands behind the quarterback. The fullback is kind of like the running back. He mostly guards the running back as he crosses the line of scrimmage, but he also runs the ball sometimes."

"I see... And how does the friendly team know the play? How do they know if they are gonna run it or throw it?"

"It's discussed in the huddle, before the play. Why do you have so many questions about football?"

"I uh... I joined the football team."

Cyborg looked shocked and impressed. He smiled and laughed.

"Dang, Dan! I didn't even know you liked football!" He said, fist-bumping me.

"I don't. I didn't. I just hate Home Ec." I said, laughing. Vic laughed hard too.

"So what position are you? Does Willis still coach? I bet he has you on... Wide Receiver."

"I um..." I started to say. This was the part I was nervous about. "I am varsity running back."

Vic's whole energy changed after I said that. He pulled one hand off the steering wheel, clenched it a few times, then started at it for a few seconds. I could tell what he was thinking, even without him speaking.

"Oh, that was... That was my old position." He said sadly. There was a distant look in his one human eye, as though he were thinking deeply about something. Dammit... Why did I have to bring this up?

"Yo Cyborg, Dayhound!" Beast Boy's voice came up over the communicator, breaking the awkward silence. "You guys there?"

"Yeah fam, what's up?" Vic said back, picking up the mic.

"See the smoke? The whole damn city of Oakland is on fire! Get over here now!"

"Got it! ETA: 2 minutes."

We quickly turned around and raced down the street, towards the huge column of smoke.

Once we had reached it, I got out of the car. Donna, Zatanna, and Raven were over by the edge of the blaze, helping firefighters try to control the fiery wall. I could see shadows flying fast over the burning part of the city, which could only be the flying Titans, dropping gigantic buckets of water and dirt on the fire, as well as rescuing people who needed help. I assumed Robin and Speedy were in the less flaming parts, trying to save people. I put on my respirator.

"Supergirl!" I called out, hoping she'd hear me. Soon after, a skinny, black shape flew over to me. She looked majestic as her hair and cape blew in the heat wave.

"Hey Dayhound!" She yelled to me, "Need a lift?"

"Yes! Take me to anywhere you hear people who need help!"

She stopped for a moment, listening. The fire was insanely loud, but Supergirl could hear for miles. She grabbed my hand, then flew me into the air at amazing speeds. She dropped me in a part of the east end of Oakland that was a little less fiery.

I helped about 10 or so people before anything strange happened. I would take them to the roof, then fire a flare into the sky. Beast Boy, Starfire, or Supergirl would come and pick them up.

I heard a woman screaming like she was being murdered. I smashed through the window of a building that she was in, but I was too late. The lady was laying in a pool of her own blood. I decided to investigate.

She had two wounds. Her neck was sliced open and she had a stab wound through her heart. It was much too large to be a knife. I hadn't seen wounds like this since Kam was Nightwolf. They were wounds from a Japanese Katana sword.

Before I could investigate more, I heard the popping of a pistol shooting. I dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding a bullet. I spun around and popped out my baton. I swung it at the dark figure behind me aiming a pistol, but he caught my wrist.

Smoke filled the room, so I couldn't see him clearly. I could, however, see his eyes. Well, one eye. One pale piercing blue eye. It was my father.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my only living son!" He yelled, laughing.

I swung him around, trying to free my baton, but he reversed it and swung me into the wall. I pried off my respirator and gasped for air, but just got a mouthful of smoke. He pointed his pistol at me, but I managed to pry it from his hand and toss it into the flames. Unfortunately for me, he had a gator style machete in his other hand. It wasn't the sword that killed the woman, but it was very possible that he had killed her.

We fought for a while, but the building we were in started to creak and crumble.

"As much as I enjoy this family bonding," Deathstroke said, smashing a window, "I suggest we continue this outside."

He jumped out the window onto the rooftop next to us. I followed, but rolled when I hit the roof, smashing into a pile of trash. This gave my father time to attack. He slashed his machete down, trying to cut my neck. I threw up my arm to block it, but was still dazed from my crash, so I misjudged the attack. The blade came down just below my elbow, just above the steel plate in my costume. It buried itself in my arm, stopping when it slammed into the bone.

I cried out in pain. The building behind my father exploded, knocking my father off his feet and disarming him. The blade was still embedded in my arm. I tried to pull it out, but I was too weak due to pain and lack of oxygen. I fell to the ground, hot tears stinging the burns on my face.

"Why did you do this?" I yelled to Deathstroke, who was just standing up. The orange of his mask was mostly burned off, making his mask just black. "Why did you start this fire? Why did you kill that woman?"

He pulled off his mask, looking me in the eye.

"You think I did this?" He asked, acting as though I had said something offensive. "I didn't do this, Danny-boy! Ask Batman about the League of Shadows. They're the ones to blame!"

"Why the hell are you here then?" I yelled to him.

"You'll know next time I see you." He yelled back, coming over to me. "If you survive, that is."

The last thing I saw was Deathstroke's heavy boot coming down on my face, knocking me out.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up gasping for air. I was in my room. I had a hospital respirator around my face and my arm had an IV in it. My other arm, the one that had been chopped by my father, was wrapped tightly in a bandage and bound in a sling. I was out of costume, but I was still wearing clothes. A black t shirt and gray sweats.

I sat up in the bed, pulled the respirator off, and pulled the IV out. What had happened? How did I end up here?

I stood up, coughed a little, then limped to the door. I hurt everywhere. Why did getting knocked out hurt so much?

It was really quiet. It was dark, but I saw the sun starting rise out the window over the city. There was a thick smoldering smoke over the Bay Bridge in Oakland, but there was no more fire. We had done it. We had contained the fire. So many lives were lost, but not nearly as many that would've if the fire hadn't been contained. We couldn't take all the credit. We couldn't even take most of it. We had just been there to help the real heroes of the day, the Oakland Fire Department, as well as the San Fransisco FD.

I limped over to the common area, where everyone was lounging around, still costumed and completely exhausted. I was the only one that had been cleaned up, and I'm guessing it was because of my wound.

I sat next to Dick, who was sitting against the back of the couch, half-sleeping.

"Slow night, huh?" I said sarcastically.

"Yeah... I haven't had that slow a night since the whole goddam city was looking for your brother." Dick joked back. He was too exhausted to move, but he looked at me still. His face was covered in suit and grime, and his eyes were serious. "Dan, Batman replaced me."

"No, Jason is just his new soldier. He didn't replace you."

"Yes, he did. Bruce has been taking the kid out in the field dressed up as me. As goddam Robin, dude! Jason Todd is Batman's new Robin."

"What?"

"Dude... Robin, that name was special to me. My mom... Before she died, she used to call me her Little Robin. That's why I wanted to be called Robin. And Batman just goes and gives it to Jason Frickin' Todd like it doesn't mean anything."

Was Dick crying? He face was wet, but it was so dirty that I couldn't tell if it was tears running down his face.

"I feel betrayed, Dan. Like Batman just... Like Bruce doesn't care."

"Man, screw him!" I said, snapping my fingers, "All you want to do is be like Batman, huh? Well screw him! You don't want to be like Batman. Batman is gonna end up alone. Do you wanna end up alone?"

"Well I don't know..."

"Yes you do! Man, I see the way you look at Kori! Look over at her, sleeping on the damn table. She's covered in soot and ash but still is sexier than hell! She doesn't even know it too! And of all people on the team, she likes you. You're her best friend! Look at her and tell me that you still want to be like Batman. You don't have to be like him, because you are so much better than him, Dick. You aren't gonna end up alone. Robin, he was Batman's sidekick, his shadow. You, Dick, you're someone else. Don't be Robin anymore. Be something better."

I could tell he was crying now. He had streaks in the soot on his face. He peeled off the mask on his face, and tossed it in the trash. He was done with Robin.

"I'm gonna head to Gotham next week." He said, giving me a one armed hug. "I need to see Alfred again. I'm putting you in charge until I get back."

"Don't worry, I won't let you down." I smiled, then punched him in the shoulder. "Hey, when you're there, I need you to ask Bruce about something. The League of Shadows."

"What? Where did you hear about that?"

"How do you think I got knocked out on that roof? My father was there. He said something called the League of Shadows had something to do with the fire."

"God... Always the vigilant soldier, right Dan?" Dick commented, laughing. "Yeah, I guess that is worth looking into. But are you sure Deathstroke didn't do it? I mean, it was suspicious that he was there anyways."

"It's not his MO. My father may be a horrible person, but he wouldn't start a fire that big for no reason. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do it if he got paid to either. He does have somewhat of a conscience. I think trying to kill millions of innocent people would be a little too much for him."

"That's fair. If he was a merciless psycho killer, your mom probably wouldn't have liked him. How's your arm?"

I looked down at my bandaged arm. It didn't hurt much, but I figured they'd given me something to dull the pain.

"It doesn't hurt much. Whatever you guys gave me is working."

"Good. You can probably take the bandage off. Kara cauterized it with her heat vision, so it shouldn't be bleeding. We just bandaged it for good measure."

I tore the sling off, then unwrapped the bandage. Sure enough, my arm was expertly cauterized. It would scar, but not nearly as bad as if I had stitched it. I looked over at Dick again to speak, but he had fallen back to sleep. He'd earned it. We all had.

The rest of the week seemed to blur together, as seemed to be the trend with the days after big events like this. There was tons of news articles about the Great Oakland Blaze, as it was dubbed. It had burned down a little less than half the city. There were articles praising the Titans and the Fire Department, there were articles trying to speculate a cause of the Blaze, and there were articles saying the Titans hadn't done enough, that we hadn't been able to do enough. Some people thought that the Justice League should've stepped in. I thought so too, but I don't think there was much else they could've done.

Friday rolled around, and I still hadn't figured out what Raven and I were going to do on our date. I really had meant to, but I didn't have time, since the Titans devoted most of their free time to help clean up the Blaze. This mostly involved destroying burned buildings and taking the ruined walls to the dumps. Dick had to order me and Raven to go back to the Tower and get ready. Kori also came, because she wanted to "help."

"Ah! Jesus, Kori, what the hell are you doing in here?" I yelled after I had gotten out of the shower. She was in my room, going through all of my drawers and closet.

"I am helping you look for an outfit to wear, Daniel." She said as though my being in a towel were an everyday sight for her.

She held a light gray v-neck tee up against my chest.

"I'm pretty sure that's Gar's..." I said, pushing it away.

"It fits you much better. Examining you now, I would say you need to wear a tighter shirt to show off your large muscles. But not too tight. You don't want to look like you are, quote: 'trying too hard.' Put this on please." She explained, then passed me a pair of underwear. I waited until her back was to me, then quickly threw on the small piece of clothing. I still felt awkward, being in front of Kori in just my underwear, but it was much better than a towel.

"Now... Let's see..." She said to herself, rifling through a few drawers, "Girls like it when boys where skinnier pants, but not too skinny around the legs. Skinny at the rear area. Do you have anything like that?"

"I might have some jeans like that. Top drawer."

She pulled out a pair of gray jeans and ordered me to put them on. I did as she commanded.

"Uh... Kori, how do you know all this shit?" I asked her. I was surprised about how much she knew about fashion. I mean, every outfit she wore looked good, but that was because everything she wore fit her poorly in just the right way. It was impossible for Koriand'r to not look sexy.

"I learned about it watching television shows like Project Runaway, Say Yes to the Best, and the Gisney Channel."

"Um... You need to work on your tv show names... And your taste in tv shows."

"Here is a good shirt for you to wear. But you need a shirt to wear over it, a button up shirt." She threw me a black tank. After a few seconds of searching, she passed me a tan cotton button-up that I didn't even know I had. She looked through my shoes, gave some disappointed groans at my selection, but finally settled on a pair of Kam's old skateboarding shoes. They were in good condition, but were a little snug, considering that Kam hadn't skateboarded since freshman year.

"Very great, Kori. Seriously, awesome job." I complimented, checking out the outfit I was wearing. Without a word, she did my hair stylishly, but I wouldn't let her cut it.

"It needs something else..." Kori said, turning me around, checking me out, "A jacket or something. Wait here."

She left the room quickly. Two minutes later, she returned, holding a black leather racing jacket.

"Green Arrow left this here last time he visited. I am sure he will not mind if you borrowed it, Daniel."

I took it from her and put it on. It was a tight fit, but according to Kori, it was "very sexy."

"Ok Daniel, stay here until I tell you. I am going to help our friend Raven get ready."


	9. Chapter 9

I waited for a long time. Probably half an hour. I passed the time by pacing my room. I was very nervous. I only had an idea of what we were going to do. I still wasn't sure.

Finally, Kori came in. She was acting like my mom or something. I made a mental note to introduce her to Alfred later. They would get along great, I was sure.

When I saw Raven, my jaw dropped. She was still wearing the black and dark blue that made her Raven, but it was sexier. Shredded black jeans, a low-cut dark blue tank top, and some black boots. Her makeup was also masterfully done. For a girl who didn't need makeup to be stunning, Kori really knew how to put it on.

"Daniel, I believe in this culture, it is rude to stare." Kori said, giggling. I felt my face go bright red. Raven giggled a little. "You kids have fun, and don't stay out too late."

We went over to the elevator, avoiding eye contact. Finally, when the door shut, I spoke.

"Sorry about that. You just look... Like, you look..." I stammered, trying to justify my staring.

"Look like what?"

"You look like... Just wow..." I said, finally spitting that out. Raven giggled a little. For someone who sounded so melancholy all the time, she had a very cute giggle. The elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the garage. "So what are we doing?"

"You'll see..." I said, biding my time. That was a little lie, but it was ok because I technically didn't directly lie.

"Ok. Did Vic say you could borrow the T-Car?"

"Who said anything about the T-Car?" I asked as I went over to a car covered in a sheet. I pulled it off to reveal to her that my car had been fixed. When I first met Kori, her ship had crashed in front of my car while it was going around 60 mph. It totaled the car and her ship apparently. I had paid Vic and Gar to fix it though, and they had done a good job.

It was a white sports car. Light as a stock car, fast as a Lamborghini, and it looked like a convertible muscle car. Bruce had built it for me before my first date with Helena, and I'd treasured it ever since. It was a shame when I crashed it, but Vic and Gar did a great job.

We got in and sped off, away from the Tower. I had to think quickly about where we were going. I needed to organize my thoughts. It was 5:37 pm, so we could probably eat dinner? Where? Shit, I should've asked Vic about this. He was from San Fransisco, he probably knew a hundred places we could eat.

"So... You've been really quiet..." Raven said, breaking my thoughts, "Where are we going?"

"Um... How do you feel about... Italian food?" I asked her, making something up. I knew about Italian food, thankfully, because of Helena, so I figured I'd be able to find a good Italian place or at least a decent one.

"I've had spaghetti and pizza. Are you asking me if that's where I want to go?"

"No," I lied, "it's just a clever way of telling you that we were getting Italian."

"So you had a place in mind?"

"Yeah, totally." I lied, yet again, "Not as good as the Italian I had in Gotham, but pretty good for a city that has a lower Italian population."

I drove down the street, making small talk until we finally, much to my fortune, came upon an Italian Restaurant. The waiter quickly seated us and I ordered, since the only Italian food Raven knew was spaghetti and pizza. This restaurant kind of reminded me of Helena's godfather's place. It had the same charm.

"So..." Raven said, stirring her water with her straw, "Have you had a lot of Italian food?"

"Well, my ex-girlfriend was a mob boss' daughter, so I've had a bit of it." I said, making conversation.

"Oh jeez, you're not one of those guys who talks about their ex all the time, right?" Raven joked, brushing her hair behind her ears. It was a little bit longer than it had been when I first met her. It now went down to her shoulders, though it still had a few blue streaks in it. I had never seen her dye them, so they may have been permanent. I laughed lightly at her joke. I liked this side of her.

"How are you so natural?" I asked her. She looked confused. "That came out wrong. I meant like... "You know how Kori's a little weird, because she came from a different planet? How are you so normal?"

"It alright, I know what you mean now. Azarath, the dimension where I'm from, isn't that different than your world actually. We still socialize with each other and stuff. People hung out with me less, because I'm Trigon's daughter, but I wasn't completely secluded. I had a few friends."

I had never really thought of that. To me, Raven started to exist when Trigon's stole John Constantine's soul and tried to enter our world using Raven. I had never really thought that she had a life before all this.

"So do you... Miss them, I guess?"

"Sometimes. Most of the time, I miss my mother. She was the only one who liked me one hundred percent of the time."

"I understand that. I miss my mom too. She and Kam were the only ones who liked me back when we lived in Metropolis."

"What happened to her? Sorry, if that's touchy, you don't have to answer, but you never really talk about her."

"No, it's fine. She um... She died. My mom was murdered by the Joker." I said, somewhat gravely. Our food came, so I was silent for a moment. "A bunch of Wayne Inc. employees got captured by the Joker. I went to save them, but the Joker showed up."

"Oh, jeez... What happened?"

I pulled down the left shoulder of my jacket and button up shirt to reveal a huge scar. I pulled my sleeves back up after showing the scar.

"The Joker brought a crowbar down on my shoulder. He started beating the crap outta me, then my mom stepped in. She hit him a few times with my bat, but he... He stabbed her."

"Danny," Raven said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "you can stop. Really. I'm sorry I brought this up."

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... I just haven't talked about it much."

"Yeah, I can tell." She said, but then she looked surprised, "Sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound rude."

"You're good," I said laughing, "Ready to go?"

"That depends. Are we heading back to the tower? Or do you have other things in mind?"

"That depends on you." I said, winking. She blushed.

"I could go for something else."

"Alright! Let me finish my food real quick."

I crammed the rest of my food in my mouth. I paid the bill and left a generous tip for the waiter. I took Raven by the hand and led her out to the car, where I opened the door for her and then we drove off.

"Where to next?" She asked me. I looked at her and smiled. I really didn't have much of a plan at all, but I thought of an idea to buy me time.

"Ok, we could do one of three things:" I said, trying hard to keep my eyes on the road. "We could: A. Drive out to the woods and hang out there for a while, B. Head down to the pier and hang out there for a while, or C. We could go get tattoos."

"Tattoos? Aren't they supposed to hurt?"

"Not anymore than we've been hurt before. What's the matter? You scared?"

She smiled and laughed. "Alright, Mr. Bad Boy, we'll go get tattoos."


	10. Chapter 10

Since Raven was only 17, she couldn't technically get a tattoo without her parent's permission. Fortunately, I knew of a place or two that didn't ask age if you looked old enough, and Raven certainly could pass for old enough. Being a street-level hero had its perks in the sense that I knew about more illegal stuff than the average person.

We pulled up there about hour and a half before closing time. The artists kind of complained a little, but I had cash, so they didn't refuse us. I decided to get a black Phoenix on my right pec and overlap onto my shoulder. It looked pretty sweet I thought. It probably wouldn't have if I wasn't so built, but I didn't care about that.

Raven also got a bird. She got a black Raven with its wings outstretched on her lower back. This could've been confused for a tramp stamp, but she swore it was different. We didn't talk much until we got out to the car.

"Ok Danny, you were right." She said once we got going, "It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It's a little sore now, but i think it will be fine."

"Right?" I said, happily, "If you want, there should be some painkillers in the glovebox. Nothing too strong, just some tylenol."

She opened it, took some and gave me some. I took them and swallowed them.

"Alright, hotshot, where to now?" Raven asked, teasing me a little.

"I was thinking we could head down to the beach and go on a little walk, talk a little."

"Haha, well, after that last idea, I wasn't expecting something so mellow."

"What can I say?" I smirked, "I'm a man of many trades."

She grabbed my hand, only allowing me to let go so I could shift gears. This really reminded me of my date with Babs, four months ago. I pushed this thought from my mind. That date didn't end well. We hadn't spoken since. I was determined for this to go well.

We walked down the beach, hand in hand. It was dark, but it was a clear night. Despite this, there weren't many stars out. There were a few though.

"Danny, those are stars, right?" Raven asked, pointing at one.

"Yeah. Does Azarath not have any?" I replied, then asking my own question.

"Supposedly they do. Not where I lived though. The city I'm from has too much light to see any. We look up to the sky at night and all we see is black."

"Gotham isn't much better. There are a few I could see, but not many. I think I only could see like, three per night in Metropolis though."

"I guess we're in the same boat then. So how many are there exactly, do you think?"

"There's supposed to be billions. More than billions. They say you can see millions from some parts of Earth."

"We should ask Kara. She's from Smallville, right? I mean, that's where she's lived since she came to Earth. Smallville is a small town, right?"

"Yeah. She's probably seen tons of stars." I said, as we started walking under a pier. "Hey, you wanna go for a swim?"

"Now?" Raven asked me, cocking an eyebrow, "In these clothes?"

I shrugged. "Why the hell not?"

I took off my jacket, both my shirts, and my shoes and socks. I ran into the ocean until I was about waist deep.

"Forget it, you silly boy." She said, smiling, "I'm not going in there."

"Oh god," I yelled as I crouched in the water. I was now neck deep. "I think I'm drowning!"

"Haha, oh jeez..."

"Help... Glub... I'm drowning..." It was hard to refrain from laughing.

I went under the water, then came back up. Raven was smiling and shaking her head. She took her shoes off, then ran in after me.

When she was close enough, I went under. I found her legs and pulled her under. She kicked me, but not hard. We both came up, laughing.

"I wish you actually were drowning." She joked, shoving me. I just smiled at her. She couldn't help but smile back.

"Aw, that's harsh." I said, winking, "You know, you should smile more. You have a great smile."

She blushed, but didn't stop smiling. She went back under the water. A few seconds later, she pulled me under from behind. We were both underwater. I looked at her. Although the sky was dark, the light from the moon was bright. It reflected on her almost-white skin even more underwater. She looked like some sort of goddess. I grabbed her arm gently, put my hand on her face, and kissed her softly.

Eventually, we had to stop kissing and come up for air. I had kind of forgotten we were underwater and I almost actually did drown.

"Oh jeez..." Raven said as we came up, "I'm lightheaded. I enjoyed that and all, but I think next time we should kiss in the air."

"You say that as though I'm going to kiss you again." I said, teasing her.

"Damn you, Daniel Wilson." She said smiling. She shoved me lightly, but I overplayed it. I fell back into the water, pulling her with me. We both came back up laughing. "We better get home. It's getting late."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, come on."

We both swam to shore. We had drifted out quite the distance. I hadn't noticed.

"Man, I am soaking wet." Raven said, trying to shake the water off. "You are so lucky you could take your shirt off."

"Hey, I wouldn't have minded if you took yours off." I flirted. I laughed as she shoved me, but she was laughing too. "Here, I have two shirts and a jacket. Change into one of these."

I tossed her my button-up shirt. She started to take off her shirt, but but noticed I was watching. She motioned for me to turn around.

"No peaking. I'm serious." Raven said, changing her tone. I sighed and laughed then I turned around. About a minute later, I could turn around. I put on my tank again, then turned around.

"That's a little better. If you had a dry pair of pants, I might actually let you peek." She joked.

I'm sorry, I don't." I said. Then I acted like I was desperate. "I could go buy one right now though. I really could!"

She laughed and shoved me again. I fell in the sand, laughing.

"You're right." I said after I was done laughing, "It is late. I need sleep."

She put on the jacket, kissed me on the cheek, then we hopped in the car. We drove back to the Tower, making small talk. I walked her down the south wing to her door, then went back to my own room. Beast Boy didn't hear me change into pajamas and get into bed. I was glad, because I didn't want to wake him. I just felt like going to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Kori was mostly interested in how our date went. She forced me to tell her every single detail. Pretty much all the guys asked how it was and I said great and they said cool. I told Kara a few more of the details during training. Donna was the same as the guys, and Zatanna didn't even ask at all.

The next two weeks were slow. We went to school, came home, dressed up in our costumes, then went and helped cleanup in Oakland. I never had to go to football practice before or after school because I had it during school. It replaced my Home Ec class. So far, I had been disappointed by my time as acting leader. Dick hadn't come back from Gotham yet, but he texted Kori quite a bit, and she told us that he told her that he would be coming back in a few days or so. Raven and I didn't kiss anymore or even hold hands, but every time she looked at me and I looked at her, each of us could tell that the attraction was still there.

"Yo Dan." Justin said, catching up with me after practice, "You going to homecoming?"

"I don't know yet." I replied. I was somewhat worried about this conversation. The rumor that I was going to ask Quinlan had died down a while ago, but I was still wary. I still was very unsure what she and Justin were, since they seemed close, but Quinlan would not back off of me no matter how much I rejected her. "I have kind of an... Unpredictable schedule. I'll definitely be going to the homecoming game though."

"Great, because coach is definitely starting you that game. After that, you'll be starting a lot for sure." Up until that point, I had hardly played. Coach said that I was the "secret weapon." I had played a little, but he told me to tone it down. By the time homecoming would roll around, no other teams would be expecting me to be as good as I was. I was glad to hear that I would finally be starting with no limits. "But I really think you should go to the dance. Ask that hot girl you roll with. What's her name? Kori Anders? The one from Alaska or something."

"Canada, actually." I corrected him, "I think Dick Grayson is gonna ask her anyways."

"Well, think about it, dude. I hear that you've got quite a few votes for homecoming king, so you actually have a shot. If you don't come, you won't know you've won until school comes around!" He said, shoving me lightly. I laughed.

"Gee, whatever will I do!" I mocked my friend. He rolled his eyes. "Get to class, Call. I'll think about going."

We said our "see-ya's," then each went our separate ways. I had to stop at my locker first to drop off my uniform and grab my English book. When I got there, Kori was waiting in front of my locker.

"Hello friend Daniel!" She said energetically upon making eye contact, "How was your football practice?"

"Fine... What's up, Kori?" I asked suspiciously.

"Why would there be something up? Besides the ceiling and sky, of course."

"Because you were waiting for me. Seriously, cut the shit. What's up?"

"You do not have to be so angry, friend Daniel. I simply wish to confide in you my secrets."

"What? What the hell do you mean?"

"I need to 'talk' to someone. I chose you, because, despite the fear you cause others, you are very trustworthy."

I was a bit taken aback by this. Me? Trustworthy? Since when? I've been lying and telling shit ever since I started this hero gig. I lied to my mom, for God's sake!

"Uh... What is it, Kori?" I asked, cautiously. I was very uneasy.

"I have a... I believe what you would call a 'crush' on a boy."

Oh jeez... Please say it's Dick...

"Um... Who is it?" I nervously asked. Please say Dick.

"It is your friend, Justin." She said, her voice shaking. Shit. Damn it.

"Uh... Wow, Kori." I said, trying to sound like this was great. "So... What?"

"If you could... I don't know... Be a good friend and get him to ask me on a date, that would be fantastic." She suggested. We both were very nervous. Shit.

To make things a million times worse, Quinlan noticed us and walked over.

"Hey Danny," She said flirtatiously, "Hey Kori, what's up you guys?"

"Hello friend Quinlan!" Kori shouted nervously. Clearly this was not something she wanted other people hearing.

"Kori, babe, I told you that you didn't have to call me 'friend Quinlan.' Just Quinlan will do nicely."

"My apologies. Where I'm from, everyone calls everyone their titles first. Or what their relation to that person is. For example, I would call my sister 'Sister' before saying her name."

"It's alright Kori. It's a good thing you're pretty." Quinlan said, patting her on the wrist. Kori, despite not being a cheerleader or dancer or anything, was already one of the most popular girls in school. The reason was simple: Kori Anders was, without a doubt, the hottest girl in school. Her skin was tan and without blemish, her hair was curly fire, her eyes were emerald green, and every single outfit she wore never seemed to fit her right. It was all too tight and too revealing. That's just how Kori was. She was like a very sexy goddess. Almost every boy in school was crushing on her. Everyone who claimed not to was too. Even I did, a little bit. If she had made any advances on me, there was no way I would be able to refuse her. Not that I'd ever admit that out loud.

"So, you guys," Quinlan said, turning her gaze directly to me, "there's a party at my house Friday. It would be totally awesome if you both came."

She looked me right in the eyes when she said that. My blood boiled. What was her game? Kori got very excited and squeezed my arm very hard. I had to act like it didn't hurt.

"We will most certainly be there, friend Qu... I mean Quinlan! Not friend Quinlan! I mean, you are my friend, but-"

"Kori, you're so cute." Quinlan said, giggling. She disgusted me, how fake she was. She was acting like she and Kori were best friends. "Party starts at 7. Be there whenever you can."

After Quinlan left, Kori turned to me. Her eyes lit up, and she smiled a smile that made her irresistible.

"Oh Daniel! My first high school party! And I get to share it with you! Isn't that exciting?"

"No, it isn't." I said angrily, "That girl is up to something, I swear it. I don't think it's a good idea for us to go."

She looked at me as though I had said something against her personally.

"Daniel, have you ever thought that maybe she just wants to be your friend? Or maybe more than friends?" Kori said in a suggesting tone.

"She spread rumors about me and her on the first day! Before I had officially met her! Trust me, Kori, she's up to something. I don't know what, but she is."

"Fine then, you can use this opportunity to look for clues, or whatever the hell it is you do." She said angrily. I was taken aback. Kori hardly ever swore. The fact that she did not, meant that she was pissed.

"Jesus, Kori, ok... We can go." I said, regretfully. She jumped up in the air, squealing. Then she hugged me and ran down the hallway.

Friday rolled around quickly. Dick was supposed to be back tomorrow, but first I had to endure this stupid party that Kori was dragging me to.

We left at about 7:15. Kori wanted to go earlier, but I told her we couldn't be the first ones there. In reality, I did not want to be alone with Quinlan, but Kori was good with her, and I couldn't badmouth her friend.

"Friend Daniel, could I ask you about your brother?" Kori said after a while of driving silently.

"Yeah," I replied, calmly, "Ask away."

"What was he like? His name was Kameron, right?"

"Yeah, he was my twin. Kam was... He was my hero, you know? He was everything I wanted to be. He was popular, he was cool, funny, charismatic, athletic, good with girls, and nice. Kam was seriously the nicest guy. You would've loved him."

"He looked like you?"

"Yeah, we were almost identical. He was a little stockier, kept his hair shorter and neater, but other than that, there was very little difference between us. Except for his eyes. His were a pale blue."

"Like... What kind of blue?"

I thought of my father's one blue eye. What could I compare that to?

"Um... Like the sky." I said, thinking that was pretty close, "Like the noonday sky."

"I see... And, if you don't mind my asking, what happened to him? How did he die?"

I recounted the tale of the Nightwolf, starting from my mom's death, right up until the manhunt. Of course, I didn't know all of it, I had no clue what he did when I wasn't there, but she seemed incredibly interested throughout the whole story.

"And we exited the theater, and the cops were all over." I said, getting close to the end. Would I be able to finish it without getting emotional? "Then Kam starts flipping out. The voices in his head are going crazy. He's waving his gun around, and the police are about to fire, so I step in his way. He grabs me, then aims the gun at my head, threading to blow my brains out. I manage to get him calmed down, but then the police commissioner yells something and..."

I started to choke up. I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry.

"Then what, Daniel? If you're comfortable answering, I mean."

"Then he took the gun and..." I started to say. There were tears running down my face. Shit. "I... I still remember the feeling of his blood on my face, Kori. I had him under control, dammit. Then Gordon had to scare him... I had him under control..."

Kori pulled the steering wheel over, forcing me to stop. She hugged me tightly, stroking my hair.

"Shh... Daniel... It is ok..." She whispered softly. She wiped my tears with her palm. After a minute or so of this, I was finally calmed down.

"I'm sorry, Kori." I said, adjusting my tone, "I don't talk about this a whole lot."

"It is fine, Friend Daniel." She said, still holding me tightly, "Because of this, I have seen a side of you that I have never seen before. I have seen a side of you that not many see. We are better friends now."

I looked her in the eyes. She was smiling with her entire face. I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Not in a romantic way, but in a way that let her know that I cared deeply for her. By the look on her face, I guess she took it that way.

"Shall we continue?" I said, after I was fully composed. She nodded. I drove off.

Quinlan's house was exactly like I thought it would be. It was a large Tudor style mansion, outside of town. The yard was large and spacious. It was well decorated with many trees and bushes and statues as well. It reminded me a lot of Wayne Manor, actually. There was loud music coming from the house. It was muffled, but we could hear the bass, even through my car. We pulled up as close as we could, but there were probably twenty cars parked in the large circular driveway.

"Ok, Kori, there's a couple things I gotta warn you about." I said as we exited the car, "Is kissing a thing on your planet?"

"Sort of. It is supposed to be an intimate, private moment between two lovers. That is not how it is here?"

"No. It's probably going to be worse here than anywhere else, actually. There is probably going to be a lot of people making out. Next tip: if you can help it, don't drink anything that isn't water. If you don't want to drink just water, make sure you get it yourself."

"Why is that?"

"Do you know what roofies are?"

"No."

"Ok, they are... Never mind. Just don't drink anything that anyone gives you. Especially if that person is a guy. Just pour all of your drinks yourself."

"Got it. Any other tips, friend Daniel?"

"Um... Guys are going to try and hit on you. Probably a lot of guys are. Don't go to somewhere more private with them. Don't go anywhere with any guys unless other people are going. Um... Don't play a game called '7 minutes in heaven' or a game called 'spin the bottle.' Got it?"

"I believe so. I did not know human parties were so complicated. Why are these things taboo?"

"They aren't. Well... They aren't at teenager parties. But most of what I told you is sex-oriented."

Kori blushed. That was the first time I had seen her blush. She stopped in her tracks, then pulled up her top and pulled down her skirt, as though to cover herself more. I was amazed that someone who exposed themselves so much could feel so awkward about sex.

"Yes... Um... Humans are very sexual creatures. Oh shit, I mean people. Sorry, Daniel. I did not mean creatures. It's just... Their urge to... Ahem... You know... Is very animalistic."

I laughed. This made her feel a little better. She started laughing with me. We stopped shortly, and she smiled.

"It's ok, Kori. I know what you meant." I said, patting her on the back. We were almost to the door.

"Daniel... Have you ever...?" She asked me quietly. I looked at her, but she looked away, as though she were ashamed of the question. I thought of Helena.

"Yeah... I have. But don't worry. She and I were very close. We still are. Sort of."

"What happened to her?"

"She... I can't tell you."

"Did she die?"

"No, Kori, I literally can't tell you. That would put her in danger."

We got to the door finally, which was good because I did not want to continue this conversation, nor did I know how without revealing that my girlfriend was a super spy.


	12. Chapter 12

The inside of the house was very loud. I couldn't hear my own thoughts. Kori, on the other hand, was captivated by the loud music, the dancing, and the social formalities of the party. I lost her in the house almost as soon as we stepped in. Great... Now I was alone.

I made my way over to the kitchen. I was a little hungry, and quite parched. I noticed right off the bat that there were only three kinds of drinks there: wine, vodka, and water. Now was not the time for me to be drinking and this was definitely not the place. I had to keep a clear head.

"Looking for something?" A voice said from behind me. I turned slowly, and nearly groaned. Quinlan... "Or someone?"

"No." I replied, disinterested, "I was thirsty. I'm not anymore."

"Are you sure about that?" She flirted, pouring herself a glass of wine. She shook another empty glass in the air, beckoning me to have a glass. I shook my head. "Oh you're no fun. I'll bet you've never even had a drink of this stuff before."

"Not this. I've had better wine than this." I told her, picking up the bottle and looking at the label.

"Well obviously I'm not gonna use our best wine for this lame-ass party." She laughed, taking another sip of her glass. She bit her lower lip. It reminded me of how Helena used to. "You know, we could go down to the wine cellar, if you want the good stuff."

I could tell she wasn't going to let me just walk away. I also couldn't think of an excuse for not going.

"Alright... But no funny business, got it?" I said firmly. She nodded, then beckoned for me to follow her.

She unlocked a cellar door, then led me down some stairs. It was dark and damp. Literally the least romantic spot on the whole planet. I was pretty sure she wouldn't try to make a move on me now. We went down the narrow hallway until she stopped me at an old barrel with a spigot. She poured two dark red glasses from the barrel and passed one to me.

I sipped it. It was very sweet. A lot sweeter than the wine I had tried at Wayne's house, two years ago. I took a few more drinks, until my vision started getting fuzzy.

"Come on." Quinlan said taking my hand. I didn't know where she was leading me, but I couldn't seem to think of the right thing to say at that moment.

We went up to the third floor, and we sat on a balcony there. What was going on? We both finished our drinks in silence. I hiccuped.

"Ok... I believe that you have had wine before," Quinlan said, laughing, "But not much. How are you doing?"

"I uh... I am ok. Just buzzed, I think." I replied, slurring my words. I looked at her. God, why did she look so much like Helena.

"What?" She asked, innocently. She most of noticed my staring.

"Sorry... Just... You look like her. Helena, I mean."

"How much like Helena?" She smiled, crawling over to me.

"Right now?" I slurred, "Almost perfectly. Except your eyes."

"Oh, does she have a different color?"

"No. Hers are beautiful. Yours are kinda dull."

"I don't know whether to be offended or not." She was practically on me now. She leaned in and kissed me. God, she even kissed like Helena. Who the hell was this girl?

I forgot after a while that she wasn't Helena. I started making out with her. I rolled on top of her and came up for air. She pulled her shirt off and started kissing me again. Then, I felt someone grab my shirt from behind. They pulled me up with ease, and slammed me against the balcony railing.

"Mark, let him go now!" Quinlan yelled, yanking her shirt on quickly. Mark and several of the other football players who I didn't know well were there.

"Get the hell outta here, Quin." He said, pushing her away, "You think Justin would like you fooling around with this shit."

"Justin and I aren't even dating!" She said, charging him. Two of the other guys grabbed her arms, holding her back. She was surprisingly strong, but the two held firm.

"Ok you two hold her." Mark ordered, "We are gonna take this asshole out to the grove and rough him up a little." They agreed.

Once we were out into the backyard, I pried his hand off. I spun around and elbowed him in the ear. He covered it as he fell down to the ground. The other guys sprung into action. Although they were clearly drunk, I was too, so we were kind of on even ground. I took a stance. I'm not sure what kind, but it was a stance.

I blocked the closest one's kick, then jabbed him in the face. I was going off of pure survival instinct here. The next two charged me at the same time, but I heel kicked them both.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head. I started to collapse, but Mark grabbed my arm and pulled me up. He hit me in the face with the same rock he hit me in the back of the head with. It hurt like hell, but I spit in his face anyways. He was about to bring the rock down on my face again, but one of the other guy's stopped him.

"Alex said to wait until we were in the grove!" My savior said. Mark glared at him, but then dropped the weapon. He hit me in the gut, then he and another guy started to carry me down the backyard.

They carried me to a grove of trees, where there was a wooden pole waiting for me. They tied me to it with chains. Out of the shadows, stepped another football player. The other running back, Alex Geth.

"I thought you wouldn't come." Alex said quietly to Mark. I guess Alex was mad because he was supposed to be the team's secret weapon, not me. I just showed up to practice and got the position like it was nothing.

"Bastard got away for a little bit. Sombitch knows how to fight." Mark said, showing him his bleeding ear.

Alex looked over at me. I smirked. He glared. He grabbed a stick.

"Danny." Alex said as he came over. All of the other guys seemed kind of scared.

"Hey Alex how's it hanging?" I said, cheekily. He hit me in the gut with the end of the stick.

"Ok Dan, I wanna save you a lot of pain." He said, tapping the stick on my face, "You quit the team on Monday, and I won't hit you anymore."

I smirked. I told him to come closer, then I head butted him when he did. I was not going to give into bullies.

He was pissed. He hit me in the face with the stick, cutting my cheek. It hit hard enough to splatter blood onto the side of a nearby tree.

"Dan, seriously." Alex threatened, grabbing my face. I bit his hand harder than I've ever but anyone before. I tasted his blood in my mouth and I bit harder. Mark and the other guys actually had to hit me in the gut a few times until I let go. Alex was angry and bashed me with the stick about twenty times. I barely held consciousness. I saw a dark shape land silently about ten feet behind them. I wasn't sure if it was real or not.

"Dan, be smart." Alex said calmly.

"Trust me, I've been through a helluva lot worse than this." I muttered, trying to smile a little. He had one of the other guys and him some pliers. He was going to pull teeth or something, but he never got the chance.

The dark shape leaped onto him, slamming his head into the ground. It took the stick and hit Mark many times in the head with it. This was all before any of the others realized what was happening.

The shape cartwheel kicked the nearest guy, slamming him into a tree. He grabbed the one to his left and tossed him away. The others ran.

The shape pulled out a katana and cut the chains. I saw the mask he was wearing clearly. It was the Nightwolf's Celtic wolf mask.

"Kam?" I muttered and coughed after I fell to my knees, "Kam, is that you?"

He helped me up, but didn't say a word.

"Kameron, is that you?" I whispered. Before he could say anything back, we heard a single pair of footsteps coming towards us. Kam ran in the opposite direction, before whoever it was saw him.

"Daniel are you ok?" I heard Kori say like a distant voice. She was right in front of me somehow.

"Kori..?" I groaned. She helped me up.

"Oh god, Daniel what happened?"

"Nothin'" I said, calmly, spitting some blood onto the ground, "Take me home, Koriand'r."

I wasn't sure how we got there, but I was in the passenger seat of my car. Kori was driving, not well, i might add.

"Kori... Kori..." I murmured, holding onto consciousness, "Where are we going?"

"The hospital, Daniel! You are in horrible condition!"

"No, no hospitals. Take me to the Tower."

"Daniel, I really think-"

"No goddam hospitals, Kori! Got it?" I yelled, probably louder than I should've.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I will take you to the Tower."

"Good. Now keep me talking. I might have a concussion. I can't fall asleep. Sleep is bad right now."

"Ok... What the hell happened back there?"

"Some bitches were being assholes and thought it would be cool to beat me up. By bitches I don't mean girls. Or girl dogs."

"Then what?"

"I saw Kam, Kori! He's alive!"

She almost slammed on the brakes.

"What?!"

"Yeah... I don't know how, but I saw him clear as day. It was him, I know it."

"Daniel, I think you're delusional."

"No, Kori, how do you think I got free. He saved me Kori. It was Kam."

"Ok. I believe you."

"Good."

"So... What do you think of Raven?"

"I think she's hot. Good kisser, despite the fact she's probably never kissed anyone before. I see real potential there."

"And...?"

"Helena is the problem." At this point, I was speaking my thoughts aloud. I couldn't stop. "She's my old girlfriend. She's some kinda spy or shit. I don't know if she's alive or dead. If she's alive, then I feel bad going after Raven because I know it can't go further than now. If Helena is dead, then I feel like I am not being sensitive to her death."

"Daniel, I understood almost none of that..." She said, clearly very confused, "Your old girlfriend is a spy?"

"It's true." I slurred, "She was forced to work for a secret agency called ARGUS. She can't contact me and I can't contact her. I miss her like hell, but I don't know if she's dead or not."

"Oh... Jeez... I don't know if what you're saying is true, but I'm sorry if it is. I can't imagine that pain."

"Yeah, I am in love with her."

"I have never been in love."

"Well I think our friend Dick Grayson is in love with you."

"...What?"

"Oh shit, I don't think I was supposed to tell. Um... How did you enjoy the party? Up until the part I got beat up, I mean?"

"What did you say, Daniel?"

"How did you enjoy the party?"

"No. You said that Dick was in love with me?"

"Did I?" I lied, trying to cover it up. I was having a very hard time controlling what I was saying. "I must be delusional then. God, maybe you better take me to the hospital after all."

"How do you know that Dick is in love with me?"

"I don't! He isn't!"

"Then why did you say that?"

"I don't know."

"Daniel, you better tell me right now or I will crash this car!"

"I'm already worried you might." I said as we swerved to avoid the sidewalk. "Ok, calm down. I don't know if Dick is in love with you, I just... I think he is."

"Why?"

"Because of the way he looks at you, Kori! I have never seen him look at a girl that way. He didn't even look at Babs the way he looks at you! You're... You're something else to him, Kori. I strongly believe that he is head over heels in love with you!"

The car was silent for a long time. It was silent until we saw the Tower. Finally, after about ten minutes of silence, Kori spoke up.

"Why would Dick be in love with me, Daniel?"

"Why wouldn't he? You're cute, funny, nice, passionate, and not to mention you're super hot. You're one of his best friends. If I were him, I would be in love with you."

"You aren't... Right?"

"No. No offense, but you aren't my type. I mean, you're totally sexy, and I don't think I would be able to resist you if you were into me, but I know that I am not in love with you."

"You humans are strange. You fall in love so quickly."

"I don't. I took a while to tell Helena I loved her."

"Who is Helena, Daniel? I know she was your girlfriend, but what was she like?"

"Another time, Kori." I said as we pulled into the Tower's garage. "I've told you enough about my life for one day."

Kori helped me up into the elevator. Vic and Megan checked me out, made sure I was ok. After they both concluded that I did not have a concussion, I was finally allowed to get to sleep, which I was very grateful for. I really needed it.


	13. Chapter 13

I woke up sore as hell. Thank god is was a Saturday. I groaned when I got out of bed. Gar's bed was empty and neatly made. What time was it?

Instead of checking the clock, I just left the room. I found myself in the bathroom, checking my wounds. I had a few cuts on my face, but none of them would require stitches. I did put a few steri-strips on a couple of the worse ones, but otherwise I left them alone. My torso was covered in bruises, but none of my ribs were broken. That was very fortunate. I wasn't sure how I was going to go to practice on Monday, but I knew that I had to. I couldn't back down. That was what those guys wanted.

My head was killing me as well. It was probably mostly from the blows I took last night, but I may have been slightly hungover. I was such a damn lightweight. I was buzzed after one goddam drink. Granted it had a very high alcohol content, but still. It was just one drink. It took me a moment to remember what had happened. Shit, what if Quinlan took it as me actually trying to like her? Did I actually like her? I pushed her aside, then thought of Helena. I thought of how much I missed her. I wondered when I would see her again.

I took a few hydrocodone, threw my shirt back on, then left the bathroom. I headed out to the common area.

"Jesus, Dan, they said you were beat up, but damn!" Dick said, the moment he saw me. He and Kori were hanging out at the dining room table. Vic, Gar, Donna, and Roy were all playing a video game. Meg, Raven, and Kara were all nowhere to be seen. "How the hell did this happen?"

"Oh well you know... I was... Slightly intoxicated." I murmured guiltily, trying not to make eye contact.

"You were drunk?" Dick asked angrily, "You, 18 year old Daniel Wilson was drunk at a high school party?"

"I get it dude. You don't have to be a douche."

"I'm just trying to understand. On what world did you think that was ok?"

"I thought maybe if I had one drink with Quinlan, she'd back off a little."

"Oh and how did that fool proof plan work?" Dick asked sarcastically. I flipped him off. He returned my gesture.

"It didn't. Those guys showed up after though, they got me away from her. I guess you could say in a way they helped me."

"Sure guy, sure." Dick said, shaking his head. I briefly made eye contact with Kori. She didn't seem anymore unnatural around Dick than before. "So how did you get away? Kori said that you were standing over their unconscious bodies when she got there."

I rushed quietly over to the table, then sat next to Dick. I looked over at the others, but they were too consumed with their video game to pay attention. I didn't want to freak them out.

"Dick, it was Kam. It was Nightwolf." I said quietly to him. His eyes widened.

"As in..." He held two fingers up to his head in a gun shape, "That Nightwolf?"

"As in Nightwolf my goddam brother you asshole." I quietly insulted him. He apologized.

"Dan, Jesus, I think you're delusional."

"No. I know what I saw. I promise that it was him."

He placed his hand on his forehead. He didn't know what to think, that much was clear. I groaned in frustration, then left the table.

"Where are you going, Daniel?" Kori asked me as I walked towards the north wing.

"To find out the truth."

I groaned as my grapple gun took me from one rooftop to another. My sides hurt every time I grappled. I was in Oakland, looking for Deathstroke. Was he here looking for Kam? Did he even know Kam was still alive?

I finally came to the collapsed building where I had fought him the first time. This part of Oakland was the poorest, but it was also not terribly burnt, so it hadn't been cleaned up yet.

The building that I had fought him in was completely collapsed, so there would be no clues in there. There might be clues on the building next to it though, the one where he had knocked me out. It was still standing.

The whole roof was covered in ash. The trash heap that I had crashed into was horribly burnt, but I could see a little bit of my blood in it. I searched through the trash, but to no avail. Time to broaden my search. I dug through the ash on the roof until I found something: a small metal throwing star. It was beautifully crafted Damascus steel and ornately decorated with some sort of symbols on it. The symbols looked like some sort of language, but I couldn't identify it.

It wasn't much, but it was a start. I tested the sharpness of the blades. It was still very sharp, despite the fact it was in the fire. I dug around for any marks of scratches in the concrete, in order to find an impact angle. I found a fairly large gash in the wood of the roof access door. It looked as though it might've been caused by the throwing star.

Judging by the angle, and the depth of the gash, I pinpointed a rooftop nearby that may have been an origin point for this star. I quickly grappled over, groaning quietly as I did.

There was blood splattered on this roof. It was dried, but I could tell that it had been messy. The blood trailed over the side of the roof. I decided to have a look.

Sure enough, there was a body there. She was partially charred, but I could still see major details. Cause of death was obvious: she was shot through the heart by what looked like a 9mm bullet. Ok... Now who was she? Her clothing, though it took the worst of the blaze, was still somewhat in tact. It was in tact enough for me to see that it was not conventional. She was wearing some sort of ninja outfit. I decided to search her pockets, but to no avail. All of the items were either burnt or useless to me. Even though her body was a clue, she was yet another dead end. Maybe her DNA could help me?

I took a sample, then called Alfred. I didn't want any of the Titans to be involved in this. I wasn't sure why, I just knew I didn't. After a few rings, Alfred picked up.

"Good day, Master Daniel." I heard the old British butler's voice on the other line.

"Hey Alfred." I growled out, still using that damn voice. It was impulsive now. I couldn't stop using it when I was in costume. "I need you to run this DNA sample for me."

"And here I was thinking this was a social call..." Alfred complained, "alright, please hold a moment.

I heard him put the phone down then walk away. I waited for about 15 minutes for him to come back.

"Alright, Master Daniel, I have this woman's file. It is very peculiar that you would find her DNA though."

"Just read me the details."

"Ann Pembroke, date of birth 04/03/85, date of death 09/12/10."

"Wait, what?"

"Yes, this woman has been dead for a number of years."

"No, she's only been dead for a couple of weeks. I'm looking at her body right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Send me a pic on my communicator, then we'll see."

I waited a few seconds until my communicator screen popped up a picture of Ann. She had longer hair and was less athletic looking, but it was definitely her.

"Yeah, Alfred, that's definitely her." I said bluntly.

"Most peculiar..." He said, mostly to himself.

"How did she die?"

"In a fire. But the body was never recovered, so I suppose it isn't terribly strange that you found her, although I wonder why no one else has."

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Where's she from? Is she local?"

"Not exactly. Her last known address is in Central City."

"Wait, Central City, Missouri? As in, where the Flash is from?"

"Yes, Master Daniel, that's exactly what I mean."

"Looks like I have a long investigation ahead of me..." I muttered.

"As do I, Master Daniel, as do I..." Alfred replied, copying my tone.

I decided just to drive my car straight from Oakland to Central City. It was going to be a long drive, but even longer if I had tried to fly in with my costume. Then I would've had to buy a ticket, pack my costume so that it would be disguised on the x-rays they used at the airport, then wait for my flight. Driving as fast as I drove was not only faster than that process, but it was less painful too.

I got there around 4:00 am. It was much too late to check out Ann Pembroke's house. I decided I would just go on patrol, stop any criminals that were in the city.

Central City was surprisingly clean for as large of a city as it was. Even Metropolis hadn't been this clean. All of the roads were well paved, all of the trash was in garbage cans, and there were very few homeless people. It was a nice change from San Fransisco, and an even better one than Gotham, where almost half the population was homeless.

The first crime I encountered took longer than expected to find. I guess criminals actually slept in Central City. There was a convenience store being robbed. It looked like three or four guys, all lightly armed, all just trying to get in and get out. They were in for it tonight.

I grappled down to street level, drawing my baton as I did. I walked over to the store, kicked open the door, then pounced on the nearest man. I whacked his face multiple times with my baton, then I took his pistol.

I chucked the pistol at a man with a double barreled shotgun. It nailed him in the face right as he shot, causing his slug to just miss me. I dove on him, ripped his gun from his hands, and smacked him with the butt of the weapon.

The last man made a break for it. He kicked down the back door and started running. Why do they always run? I made pursuit.

He was fast, but I was definitely in better shape, so I was slowly gaining on him. I was was about ten feet away when I saw a red streak go by me, followed by a strong whoosh of air. The man I was chasing tripped when the streak hit him. The streak zoomed around him a couple of times and before I knew it, the criminal was tied up.

"Well, that takes care of that." The Flash said, brushing his hands together. "Nice job back there, by the way. I could've taken care of those two, but I'm glad you did. I don't like to beat people up much. I'm the Flash, by the way. I don't believe we've met."

He was by far the fastest talker I'd ever met. He'd said that whole thing before I could even think of a single word to say.

"I had him taken care of." I said coldly, then I turned away and walked down the alley. He zoomed past me and leaned up against the wall in front of me.

"What's you're name?" He asked me, flipping a coin.

"None of your goddam business." I growled. Normally, I would've liked to meet the Flash, but I was not in a good mood.

"I think it is. This is my city." He threatened. I glared at him.

"Dayhound." I muttered as I started to walk down the alley again. The Flash started to walk beside me.

"The Dayhound? As in, the dude who cut off that guy's fingers? That Dayhound?" He said, sounding shocked. I shot him an angry look, but kept walking. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Now THAT is none of your business. I'm investigating something." I growled out. I was getting annoyed by this guy.

"What is it? Maybe I could help."

"No. I got it."

"Why do you have to be such a douche?"

"I'm in a bad mood."

"You were trained by Batman, right? That explains a lot actually."

"Can you not talk if you're gonna shadow me like this?"

"Why? Talking is kind of my thing. Sorry."

"It's annoying."

"People have told me that before. One second." He zoomed off, leaving me alone. I rushed to my car, hoping to be able to speed off before he came back. I thought I was successful until I saw him running next to my car backwards.


	14. Chapter 14

I pulled over and exited my car.

"Seriously dude!" I yelled. It started raining.

"Sorry Dayhound, but it's my duty as a concerned citizen to help stop potential crimes. And crime seems to follow you where ever you go."

"Fine! You can come help. Jesus..."

He fist pumped, then ran around in circles for a while around my car.

"Ok, Dayhound! Where to?"

I told him the address for Ann's house, then he said that he would meet me there. He sped off towards the sunrise, faster than anything I had ever seen.

Ann's house was the penthouse of an apartment building in a rich part of town. The Flash was waiting for me by the time I got up there.

"I looked at the records for this place." He said as he saw me,"A man named Linus Pembroke lives here with his wife. They had a daughter too, but she died in a fire."

"I know." I muttered as I knocked firmly on the door. We waited for a few seconds, but no answer. I repeated this action three times, all yielding the same result.

"Well, looks like we'll have to come back later." He said as he started to head toward the stairs. I, on the other hand, did not want to wait. I kicked the door hard on the left side. The hinges flew off the frame as the door came tumbling towards the ground. "Dude, what the hell- Oh god, what's that smell?"

It smelled like rotting meat, but worse. I tried to keep a stone face, but despite my best efforts, I started to gag. The Flash sped away, but he returned in less than thirty seconds.

"Here. Take this." He said in a nasally voice. I soon saw why. He passed me a pair of nose plugs. I thanked him and put them in. I could still smell it, but significantly less. I stopped gagging every few seconds at least.

"Ok, I'll check the bedroom. You check out here and the bathroom." I told the Flash.

"What are we looking for?" He asked me.

"Anything suspicious."

"Got it." He said, as he sped around the room. I hurried into the bed room. I looked around for about 30 seconds, when I heard the Flash calling me into the bathroom. "Hey, Dayhound? I think this counts as suspicious. Also, I know the source of that damned smell."

Sure enough, there was a body in the bathroom. It had been an old man, but now it was a horribly rotted corpse. He was sitting in a tub of what had been blood. His wrists were split open. I shuddered as I saw them. This had almost been me, nearly three years ago, back when I lived in Metropolis. I decided to investigate. The Flash beat me to it.

"Don't worry, I'm CSI." He said as he finished his examination of the body. "It appears the cause of death is blood loss, definitely caused by those cuts on his wrists. Poor guy definitely killed himself. The real question is, how did no one find him until now? I mean, he had a wife.

I looked closer at the body. These cuts were too large to be a kitchen knife or a razor. In fact, there was no blade in the bathroom at all. The guy had one of those electric razors, the kind without the blades.

"He didn't kill himself." I finally said. The Flash looked at me strangely.

"Well, if he was stabbed or shot or something, I would believe you. But since he died of blood loss, I really don't."

"Look at those cuts. They're too wide to be a knife or razor. They were caused by something else. A sword, based on previous wounds I've seen like this. There are also no blades or anything nearby. It looks too clean of a death." I grabbed the slimy head and felt the skull. There was a small fracture near the front of it, but it was undetectable by sight because the body was so bloated. "There's a fracture here. My guess is that whoever killed him hit him in the face with some sort of blunt, pointed object to knock him out, put him here, then split his wrists."

"Hm... Alright, I'm buying it. Let's look around some more."

The Flash ran off into the bedroom and returned with a handgun.

"If he did kill himself, he could've done it with this. Also, there's no suicide note or anything. Your conclusion is starting to seem more viable."

Without another word, I walked into the bedroom. I did my own search. The painting over the bed seemed a little too small for this guy's pay grade. It was hiding a small wall safe.

"Damn son!" The Flash exclaimed upon my finding the safe, "You're pretty good at this shit."

"Thanks." I quietly said as I put my ear up to the lock and turned the tumbler. I was trying to unlock the safe. After about a minute of trying, I had to give up. This was too expensive of a safe to be cracked like that.

"Let me." He said as he put his hand up to the safe door. "If I vibrate this at the right speed... Bingo!"

Like magic, the door of the safe popped open. Inside was a single unmarked Manila file. I grabbed it and opened it up. The first page was a report of the fire that had "killed" Ann Pembroke. I flipped over the next page. It was covered in photographs and red sharpie.

They were all security camera photos, each showing the date in the bottom right corner. All the photos were taken after Ann's death, but there was a girl who looked a lot like her circled in red sharpie in each picture. Also underneath each picture was a location, also written in the sharpie. Gotham City, Ontario Canada, Shanghai China, and Berlin Germany. I shut the file and tucked it into my jacket.

"Hey, that's evidence, you can't take that." The Flash objected.

"What are you gonna do, report me?" I challenged. He was silent. "Besides, last I checked, breaking and entering was illegal too. It's best if you just leave an anonymous tip rather than lead the police here, or whatever the hell you do."

"What are you doing here?" He asked angrily.

"I'm looking for someone." I answered as I opened the door to the balcony. I crushed a smoke pellet, then grappled to a nearby rooftop. I was done dealing with the Flash.

"I hope you found what you were looking for." My father said as I approached my car. He was leaning on it. I pulled out my baton and got ready to pounce. He drew his pistol and pointed it at me.

"What do you want?" I growled at him. He snickered.

"Your brother. He's alive."

"I know. I don't know how, but I'm gonna find him."

"Good, we're on the same page then." He put his gun away. I did the same with my weapon. "So let's make a deal. Give me Pembroke's file, and I'll help you find him."

"Counter offer:" I shot back, "You leave me the hell alone, stop looking for Kam, and I won't beat your face in."

Deathstroke laughed. "Even if you could 'beat my face in,' you still wouldn't be able to find him without this."

He held up a small flash drive. It had some of the same markings that were on the throwing star I had found near Ann's body.

"You're bluffing." I said warily, hoping that what I had said were true.

"Ok, fine. I might be lying. But you don't know that for sure. If you think you can find him or whoever is responsible for him right now without this, which, by the way, I picked up off of Ann Pembroke's body, then you can get in your car and leave. Or you and I could stop hating each other, just this once, and find Kameron together."

I stopped and thought for a moment. If he wasn't bluffing, then he might have some vital clues about Kam. On the other hand, he could just be planning to betray me. Of course, even if the drive was a bluff, he still would probably have some clues about Kam. He clearly had known that he was alive before I found out, so he had probably been investigating for a while.

"Fine." I finally agreed, "We can work together. But the minute I don't like what you're doing, I swear to God, I will crush you."

"You know, that threat sounds awfully Batman-esque. You've become a lot like the man. Shame. I'll send you a San Fransisco address on Monday at 5 pm sharp. Be there, with the file or the deal's off."

He walked away. I hopped in my car and started driving west, back towards my city.


	15. Chapter 15

I got back to the tower at about 4 a.m. on Monday. I knew that tomorrow would be absolute hell, since I hadn't slept in over 48 hours. I could normally go up to 30 hours and act somewhat normal (thanks to Batman), but anything past 30 made my life a living nightmare.

I walked into the common area. It was dark, so hopefully no one was up. I sneaked towards the north wing when the lights of the common area turned on.

"Jesus Christ, Dan, don't you ever sleep?" Oliver Queen, aka, the Green Arrow asked me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, squinting until my eyes adjusted to the light.

"Checking in on you guys." He said, stroking his goatee. "Everyone said you left Saturday, then today, well, yesterday, the Flash calls me up and says you've been messing around in Central City. What were you doing there?"

"None of your buisness." I said, as politely as I could.

"Ugh... Can't you just be easy like there others? Why do you have to be so goddam independent? You know what? I'm tired, you're tired. Go to bed. You have school tomorrow, at least you'll get some sleep."

I had no argument to that. I felt like I was dying. Two hours of sleep wouldn't make much of a difference, but at least it would help a little bit. I quietly made my way to my room, sneaked across the room as to not wake up Gar, then fell in bed still wearing my costume.

"Hello, Friend Daniel." She whispered quietly in my ear. "I am waking you up so Garfield can sleep."

"Ugh... What about me?"

"Daniel, don't make me pick you up."

"Go fu-" I started to say before Koriand'r lifted me into the air, bridal style. She shook me a few times, then put me down on my feet.

"Are you awake now, Friend Daniel?"

"No. I am still just as damn tired as before." I muttered grumpily. She picked me up in a tight hug. I had trouble breathing.

"I missed you, my friend. We have much to discuss. But later. Right now we need to get ready for school. I will see you later."

She left the room. I grumbled unintelligibly, and went to my dresser and got some clothes for me to wear today. I felt like I was going to die, but I managed to drag my feet over to the bathroom and into the shower.

I wandered over to the common area and had a two bagels for breakfast. I hadn't eaten in a while either. I was pretty bad at eating, actually. After my breakfast, I went over to Oliver.

"Not that I don't like you, Ollie,"  
I said to him, "but what are you doing here? Wonder Woman was here a few weeks ago."

"I know. Actually, it was supposed to be Superman, not me. But he's way too busy. So I came. I guess I am here to check up on you guys, after the fire. Make sure you're all alright, psychologically. I'm not a psychologist, but I do know stuff about mental health. You kinda have to, after living on an island for five years."

"We're all good." I objected. He laughed.

"I know that. It's just protocol. We don't want the government down our asses, do we? 'Mistreatment of minor employees/public servants' or some stupid shit like that."

"Ok, I'll buy that."

"Good. Now get to school."

Gym class was an absolute hell. Ortega worked the shit out of us. It wouldn't have been that bad, but I had gotten two hours of sleep in the past two days. I slept through Calculus, despite Meg's valiant effort to keep me awake. Now was football practice. I could've skipped, but I had to show Alex and Mark and those other assholes that I wasn't going to back down.

Football practice went fine. We worked well as a team, and had almost no problems up until the end.

"Hey, asshole," Alex said in the locker room after we had changed. We were the only two in there. "How's your damn face?"

"Better than yours." I growled, flipping him off.

"You want me to beat you up again?"

I had-had enough of this son of a bitch. I grabbed him by the shirt, slammed him into the lockers, and lifted him up into the air.

"Let's make one thing clear:" I growled in my Dayhound voice, "You did not beat me up. You couldn't if you tried. You just hit me with a damn stick."

I actually saw fear in his eyes for a second. Then his elbow made contact with my jaw. I dropped him, then staggered backwards. I quickly regained my footing, then jumped at him. I punched him in the face with a right hook, then teep kicked him in the chest. He slammed into the lockers behind him. I hit him twice with my left hand, then grabbed his shirt again. I slammed him into the lockers a few times.

Mark tackled me from the side. He must've heard the commotion and known it was Alex and me. He had me on the ground, but I quickly got him in a full guard. I transitioned it to an arm bar. His arm bent backwards. I quickly finished the job and snapped it. To add insult to injury, I nailed him in the face a few more times with my fist.

"You douchebag!" Mark yelled, gritting his teeth through the pain. "Now I'm gonna be out for the rest of the goddam season. I hit him in the face again.

"You wanna complain again?" I yelled in my Dayhound voice still. He opened his mouth, but I punched him again before he could speak. The brute was finally unconcious.

Alex hopped on my back and started choking me around the neck. I jumped back into the lockers so his back would slam into it. He was still holding on. I jammed my fist backwards into his face. I dropped to the ground, almost out of breath, then rolled forward, so I was on top of him. I managed to struggle my way around so that he was grabbing me around the back of the neck instead of choking me.

I pried Alex's grip off my neck and then postured up. I punched him in the face a few times until he was knocked out. I got off of his body and sat on the bench for a moment, catching my breath again. "Shit. I am definitely dead." I got my stuff together, then headed to lunch.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hello Friend Daniel." Kori greeted me the moment I exited the boys' locker room.

"Kori? Did you just hear all that?" I asked her.

"That commotion? Yes, I did."

"Why didn't you help me then?"

"Because that is the BOYS' locker room. I have learned that lesson already. What happened?"

"I just got attacked. Same guys who did it on Friday. It turned out very different this time. It's fine. What's the haps?"

"What?"

"Never mind. That phrase is too old for you." I said, regretting I had ever even thought to say 'What's the haps?' ever again. "What's going on?"

"I need to speak to you. Oliver Queen has told me that only a portion of us will be able to go to the homecoming dance, since crime will probably still be going on even while the dance is going on."

"So why does this involve me?"

"You are my best friend, correct?"

"I don't like where this is going."

"Best friends do almost anything for each other. So, what I need you to do is to ensure that Oliver Queen puts Dick on patrol for homecoming night."

"Kori, I-"

"Please, Daniel." She pleaded, "I am not sure how I feel about Dick now that I know he has a crush on me. I would like to figure that out before he and I do anything romantic or pseudo romantic."

I stopped to think about this for a moment. Dick was like my brother, so doing this would be betraying him. But how could I say no to Kori, especially after she called me her best friend?

"Ok, Kori, fine." I finally said, "I'm not sure how, but I will try."

She grabbed me and hugged me tightly. It hurt my bruised ribs, but I couldn't say anything about it.

"Oh thank you, thank you friend Daniel! I know you will figure it out, you are so smart!" She finally released me, then we headed to lunch.

"Hey you two." Donna greeted us, "Where have you been?"

"Oh, we were just talking." Kori responded, smiling.

"So were we." Donna said, "We were talking about who Oliver is letting go to homecoming and who has to stay on patrol."

"So who is the most likely then?" I asked.

"Well," Kara started to say, "Kori is definitely going. She has a very high chance of being homecoming queen."

"Do I?" She asked curiously, "Why do you think that?"

"Duh, because every guy, save present company, is in love with you." Meg said, laughing.

"Who else?"

"You are for sure, Danny, since you are starting for the homecoming game, so you are kind of required to be at the dance too. Same goes for me and Meg, since we are cheerleaders." Donna explained.

"Let's see... That's four of us going. Minus Gar and Vic, so that leaves us with... One or two more spots for people who can go to the dance." Roy said, doing the math on his fingers.

"I talked to Oliver this morning, actually. He said that he's letting six people go to the dance, then the other three have to be on patrol with Vic and Gar." Zatanna added in, sounding bored.

"Ok. So two more get to go then?" Roy asked rhetorically.

"The question is who?" Kara said, looking at the other Titans.

"Well who wants to go?" Meg asked the group.

Roy, Dick, and Kara all said that they did. Zee and Raven, much to my disappointment with the latter, said that they didn't want to go.

"Are you kidding?" Kori asked the two who didn't want to, "Why on earth would you not want to go?"

"I already shouldn't be here." Zatanna answered, "I'm a year older than everyone on this team. I should be on patrol with Gar and Vic right now."

"I think dances seem like a lame concept." Raven replied in her depressed tone after Zee had finished her answer.

"What if a boy wanted ask one of you?" Kori said slowly, making eye contact with me. I turned my face away to hide my blushing.

"Well, we're busy." Zee said coldly. She had been really blunt and grumpy since we started school, but I couldn't really blame her, since she was the oldest Titan. She was almost 19. There was no definite age set for when someone had to quit the Titans, but I knew Zatanna was getting close. I was sad about that. Zatanna was one of my best friends. I wasn't close with many people these days, but Zee was very close to me. She was also the first girl I had kissed since Helena dumped me the first time, so she was special to me for that reason too. Of course, I didn't plan on asking her to homecoming. I mean, she was super hot, but the idea of us dating was a little weird for some reason.

The rest of the day was full of sleep and uneventful classes, besides the fact that Quinlan was absent. I didn't really want to deal with her today, so it was very convenient that she wasn't there.

I got home at 4. Oliver was still there, talking to Vic about his trick arrows.

"You know what you need?" Vic asked him before they noticed me, "A sonic emitter arrow."

"Like, one that sends out sound waves?" Oliver asked him.

"Yeah, exactly. At high frequencies. It's a fact that high-frequency sound waves are one of the best ways to disable human beings. Even Kori is susceptible to high-freq sound waves. I would like to see if Kara is."

"Oh god." I joked loudly, "First Roy, now you are talking about arrows Vic? Come on..."

"Yo D," Vic chuckled, "At least I don't get the shit beat outta me every week."

"Hey, it's every other week, asshole." I joked back. We fist bumped, then I sat down by them. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Ollie and I were just talking about tech."

"Are you the first one home?" Oliver asked me.

"I always am." I replied, "Raven doesn't get home for an hour, I don't know what she does, then the others just kinda file in. They should all be home before five."

"Good. And Kara, how is she? How's her training coming?"

"She's doing... Well." I said cautiously, "We still haven't found something that she can hit without breaking, but I have found a way to hurt her car least a little bit. For training, I mean."

"What? How?"

"It turns out Kryptonians are vulnerable to magic. I don't like to use it, but I just kind of... Enchanted some boxing gloves, so my punches can hurt her. She has to pull her punches a lot to not seriously hurt me, but it still hurts like hell. But I got it."

"That's actually news to me." Oliver said, somewhat surprised, "So far, the only thing I knew about that could hurt a Kryptonians was Kryptonite."

"Well... Good then?"

"I'm not sure... Since you're here; how would you like to get your psych evaluation done now?"

"I would actually prefer if you didn't do one in me." I said, cautiously, "I don't want to know how actually messed up I am."

"C'mon Dan," Cyborg added, laughing, "We all already know how messed up you are."

"As fun as it would be to see how that would go," Oliver said, "I am just checking for PTSD and the like. I promise we aren't doing a full eval."

I cautiously agreed, then I followed Oliver down to the basement, where the interrogation room was. It would be more private than if we just did it in the common area.

"Alright Danny, I'm just gonna ask you a few questions and you answer to the best of your ability." Oliver instructed me.

"Got it." I affirmed. He nodded.

"Ok. How have you been sleeping lately?"

"Like shit, but that's not any different."

"Right. Batman doesn't have a sleep schedule, I forgot. Ok, next question: Have you been having any nightmares lately? I mean, about the fire?"

"No. Not about the fire."

"How about any in general?"

"Like I said before, the usual amount. Oliver, this is ridiculous. I don't get PTSD, Dick doesn't get PTSD, Babs doesn't get PTSD, and Batman doesn't get PTSD. He trained us not to."

"'Trained you not to?' How is that?"

"By putting us under stressful situations. Even if he hadn't done that, Gotham would've done it for us. You don't know the shit I've seen."

"Oh, trust me, Danny, I probably do. The Island I was trapped on, Starfish Island, was a hell."

"Just ask me the next question."

"Alright... Have you noticed any changes in your behavior lately? Like, have you become irritable or more violent."

"I'm already both of those." I replied to the question.

"Ok, fine. That's it for the psych eval. I am still a little concerned, but like I said earlier, we were just looking for PTSD caused by the blaze. I do have another question, but this is unrelated."

"Ask away."

"I'm assuming you've heard that I am only letting six of you go to the homecoming dance. Who would you recommend I let go?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because, despite how distant you act, Danny, you do actually know these people. I think you actually care about them even. So tell me, whose dying to go to the dance?"

"Well apparently Meg, Donna, and I do have to go. Those two are on the cheer team and I'm starting running back, so we don't really have a choice. Kori, also has to go. She has a very high chance of becoming homecoming queen, so she has to be there for the crowning ceremony."

"Great, that narrows down my options. Do you have any suggestions? I was thinking Dick and Kara."

"I definitely think you should let Kara go. It's her first and last year of high school, so she hasn't really been to anything like this and I'm pretty sure she's excited to go. But, I really think you should let Roy go instead of Dick."

"Why's that?"

I thought up a lie quickly.

"Well... Dick is leader, right? So, I think he needs as much leadership experience as possible. Especially now that he's been gone for two weeks. He needs to get back in the saddle."

"I guess that makes sense. But Dick is a senior, so it's his last year. Roy still has another year he could go to homecoming."

Shit! I had to figure something out, fast.

"Um... Why not Zatanna then, if you want a senior?" I suggested hastily. I knew she would be pissed if she found out that I recommended she go, but this was dire. "She has never been to any dances or anything either. I think she wants to see what it's like."

"Hm... I totally forgot about Zatanna. You're totally right, Danny, she probably will want to go."

I gulped. I sure hoped that he wouldn't tell anyone that I helped him decide who got to go, especially not Dick or Zatanna. I couldn't say anything about Oliver not mentioning it, because that would be suspicious.

"Alright, thanks Dan." Oliver said, shaking my hand, "Do you have any questions for me?"

I actually did have one. It had been on my mind for a while now, and now was the perfect opportunity.

"Yeah, actually I do." I told him, sitting back down, "So we've been at this for what, two years now? And one of you guys has come ever four months."

"Right."

"So why hasn't Batman come?"

"What?"

"In the two years we've been at this, Batman has never stepped foot in this Tower. He has two of his sidekicks here, and he still has never been one of the people do come to visit. Why?"

"Well... He isn't really involved in the Titans project, you know?"

"Neither is Superman, but I checked the schedule and he is coming in December."

"He wanted to come, to check up on Kara."

"And what about us?" I accidentally started yelling, "What about me and Dick? Don't we need checking up on?"

Oliver was silent. He wasn't sure what to say. We sat in silence for about 5 minutes.

"After all that he put you through, you still look up to him?" He said surprised. I smirked and leaned back in my chair.

"He gave me purpose. Do you know who I was before all this? I was nothing. I was a loser. I was a depressed loser who was one step away from killing himself. Hell, I even tried! My brother stopped me. Batman, he gave me a reason to live. He's the only thing I've ever had that was even close to a father. He may not be the easiest to live with, or the most loving person, but I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Jesus, Danny, I didn't realize..."

"No. No one ever does. Batman saved my life. I just wanted to show him that I'm not wasting the opportunity he gave me."

Oliver didn't have anything else to say, so I left the room. I went up to my room and looked at my phone.

There was one message from an unknown number. It may not have said who it was from, but I knew. Deathstroke had sent me the address of the place I was supposed to meet him. I packed my costume and the Pembroke file in a backpack, then went down to the garage.


	17. Chapter 17

The building was an abandoned apartment building near the site of the blaze. It wasn't burnt hardly, but it was covered in ash and soot. I shoved the door open. It wasn't locked, but it was a little stuck.

I pulled out my baton, despite not being in costume. I was not going to get ambushed unarmed. I walked slowly up the stairs until I got to the third floor. Just down the hall now, to room 6c.

Slade was there, siting cross legged on the ground. He was wearing street clothes, but his weapons were all within arms reach. His eyes snapped open the moment I entered the room.

"Danny." He greeted, "I trust you have the file?"

"I might." I said suspiciously, "First throw me one of those guns."

"What? You don't trust me?" He chuckled, but threw one of his 9 mils at me anyways. I caught it in my left hand, then tucked it into my waistband. I removed my backpack and pulled out the file.

We started looking through what we had. It turns out that he wasn't bluffing about the flash drive. It had some stuff on it, but I will get to that.

It turned out that Pembroke, before making bank with his company, had been a private detective, so his file was pretty in depth. It detailed out about how he didn't believe Ann had died. There hadn't been a body, nor any evidence that she had died in that fire. Pembroke didn't have much, but he did have a few documents that were written in that strange language that was on the throwing star and the flash drive.

"These symbols, what are they?" I asked Slade.

"I can't translate it. That's the language of a country called Nanda Parbat. It's a country that's the edge of the Middle East and Eastern Asia. It's where the League of Shadows is based."

"And what is this 'League of Shadows?' It keeps coming up, and I can't find any record of it anywhere."

"It's a legend. A true legend. They are assassins who work towards the betterment of human kind. Or what they think is the betterment of human kind. They're ruled by a madman that they call 'The Head of the Demon.' It is unclear to me if it has just been one man over the thousands of years they've been in place or there is a successor."

"Sounds like a cult, to me."

"A cult doesn't burn down half of Oakland just to try and kill people who they deem as bad for humanity. Trust me, Danny, these guys are the real deal."

"And Ann Pembroke was a part of them?"

"Yes. She attacked me right after I had knocked you out on the night of the Blaze. I killed her and took this flash drive."

"Right. Let's see what's on that thing."

He plugged the drive into a laptop. There was a map of Oakland on there with a few spots circled. These were the sources of the fire, I assumed. There were a few more digital documents, most of which were in the Nanda Parbat language. There was, however, a spreadsheet with both the Nandese and English on it, but there were no words.

"What is this sheet?" I asked Slade, pointing at the spreadsheet.

"Not sure. I think it's some sort of code. Or translation sheet."

"Aren't you supposed to be super intelligent or some shit like that?"

"I know. I've looked at this for hours, but I can't see a pattern. And all of my translations don't make sense."

"How am I supposed to figure it out then?" I asked insultingly.

"I don't know. One of us needs to though."

"Alright, I have an idea... Bear with me." I said. He nodded. I thought for a moment. "Ok, here goes nothing... Wohs em hturt."

The spell had worked. The letters rearranged themselves quickly for me, but not Slade. The spell had only worked for me, to ensure that he would still need me.

"What the hell did you just do?" He asked me.

"Magic." I muttered. The letters had finished rearranging in my eyes, "It is a translation sheet. Give me another piece of paper and a pen."

As soon as he did so, I used the spreadsheet to translate Pembroke's papers, then I read them. All of them concerned Ann. It mentioned about how she had been severely burned, but something called the "Lazarus Serum" had healed her. She was a test for this new serum, which had been very successful on her. Other than that, Pembroke's Nandese papers hadn't been useful.

I started to translate the documents on the computer while my father read the translated Pembroke papers.

"I've never heard of this 'Lazarus Serum.' Does it specify what it is exactly?"

"No. What's written there is an exact translation."

"Maybe it's something to bring people back to life? You know, Lazarus?"

"What does that have anything to do with anything?" I asked, clearly clueless about this topic.

"Haven't you ever read the Bible?" He asked me irritably. I shook my head. "For god's sake, your girlfriend is Catholic! Ugh... Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead after he'd been dead for a few days."

"I don't think that's the case with Ann. The document clearly states that she was alive when given the serum. I think it is some kind of healing drug. I don't know if it could bring Kam back from the dead though."

"What about the documents on the computer? What do they say?"

"There's a recipe for something called Greek Fire, a mission guide for starting the blaze and... Ooh, that's interesting..."

"What? What is it?"

"A longitude and latitude. I'm not exactly sure, but I think it may be close. Also there is Sunday's date? I think this might be a meeting spot and date."

"Alright. I'll scout the place out tomorrow, then we'll head there on Sunday and crash the party."

"Sounds like a plan." I said, gathering up my stuff. I packed it all up, then sped off in my car.

It was 9:30, so I didn't expect anyone to be at the Tower. I wash just gonna go in, grab a bite to eat, contact Dick to ask where they were, and meet up with them.

The moment I walked into the kitchen, Zatanna slammed me into the wall.

"What the hell, Danny?" She yelled at me. I was very confused. "I thought that you understood!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Zee." I said calmly.

"You told Oliver that I wanted to go to homecoming, so now he told me I'm going!"

"Oh shit... How did you find out?"

"He told me. He told me that you said I wanted to go, damn you!"

"Did he tell Dick that I said he didn't want to go?"

"I don't know. What the hell does that have anything to go with this?"

"Because," I said, prying her hands off of my shirt, "Dick was going to ask Kori and Kori didn't want to go with him."

"Let me get this straight: she asked you, of all the people who live in this damn tower, for help?"

"Kori and I are good friends. She trusts me."

"If she knew how much you lied, she wouldn't."

"What?" I asked, shocked. I knew she was right, but how she knew was beyond me.

"Danny, I know you lie. A lot. I don't know why, and I don't know exactly how much, but I know you do." She told me, her voice faltering a little as she spoke.

"Please, Zee, don't be mad. I'm doing this for Kori."

"Ugh... You're an ass." She said, backing away, "Fine. For Kori. And you're taking me."

"What?"

"You heard me. You and I are going to homecoming together. That shouldn't be a problem for you. Raven can't go, and I know sure as hell that Helena isn't going to go, so I know for sure that you don't have another date."

"Why do you want to go with me?"

"Because I hate you less than most of the idiots at that school. Now go and get suited up. Dick wants you out in the field."

I went to my room and got into my costume. My ribs still hurt like hell, but I took some painkillers and headed out back into the Common Area to meet up with Zatanna. We headed back down to my car and sped off back to the city.

"Alright, where to?" I asked her lightly.

"Just patrol." Zatanna replied. "Have you seen Dick's new costume?"

"I wasn't aware that he had a new costume."

"He does. It's mostly black. No cape. He's also calling himself Blackbird or some shit like that. What happened to him?"

"You want the long version or the short version?"

"I've had enough of explaining today. My Psych class was a living hell. Give me the short version."

"Batman got a new Robin. Dick was offended by that. You're taking psychology?"

"Yeah, but I suck at it."

"Well, I happened to consider myself an expert."

"You? The most messed up kid I know?"

"Hey, sometimes it's the most experienced who are the experts." I joked, looking at her as I did. Zatanna was definitely beautiful. Why did I do this to myself? Every so often look at Zee this way? She was my friend, but I looked at her occasionally like she was gorgeous, which of course, she was.

She wasn't like a model, not like Koriand'r, but Zee was easily one of the most naturally beautiful girls I knew. He black hair curled slightly at the end and draped over her shoulders a good distance, her eyes were a unique sort of blue-green color. When she was excited, they lit up like nothing I'd ever seen before. They almost glowed. Her makeup, although not much, made her that much better; she wore a dark eyeliner, a light coat of blush, and a bright red lipstick to top it off. She was beautiful. Maybe it was because I looked at her so often? I had no clue.

"Hey, eyes on the road, psycho!" She yelled at me. I was blushing, but she couldn't see under my scarf. I turned back to the road quickly and apologized gruffly.

"Yo Danny, Zatanna." Vic said over the comm-link, "Where are you two at?"

"21st and Main. What's up Vic?" I replied quickly.

"Sweet. Me and Dick need back up. There's a small gang fight at the address I'm sending you."

"Alright, we'll be there in probably... A minute and a half."

"See you then. Over and out."


	18. Chapter 18

The gang fight wasn't as small as I expected. I hit two guys who were grappling with my car going twenty. They rolled over the hood and Zee and I hopped out of the car. I checked to make sure my two victims were ok. They would survive.

I whipped out my baton, than pounced on top of a guy with a bat. I punched him with my free hand a few times, then whipped him across the chin with the baton.

Another man started to shoot at me with a pistol. I threw a smoke bomb at him, then jumped to the spot where he was. I took his pistol and bashed him in the nose with it.

Another guy aimed an AK at Zatanna, who was busy deflecting bullets with her magic. I took aim with the pistol and shot him in the knee. He fell to the ground, discarding the gun as he did. I ran over and kicked his face into the pavement, sending him into unconsciousness.

There were two other men, both armed, heckling a woman who had been trapped in an alley. I held the pistol like a boomerang, and chucked it as hard as I could. It nailed one of them in the chin, bounced off his face, and hit the other one square in the nose. The first was knocked out by the impact, but the second staggered backwards. I rushed him, and shoved him into the brick wall as hard as I could. He bounced off the wall and I grabbed him around the neck. I elbowed him three times in the head, then threw him to the ground. He didn't get back up, so I moved on to the next victims.

A small group, fist fighting. I jumped into the nearest man, kicking him and sending him sprawling. The man he was fighting tried to punch me, but I slipped the strike and countered by nailing him in the throat with a palm. He staggered and I kicked him in the head with a roundhouse. Another man grabbed me around the neck, while a third man started trying to punch me in the gut. I blocked all of his strikes with my knees, then kicked him with both feet, sending him, me, and the man grabbing me to the ground. I rolled up into a fighting stance again.

Then next guy tried to kick me in the knee, but I deflected it and slapped both his ears. He staggered backwards, giving me a moment to knife-hand another man in the forehead who was coming at me with a small pipe. I grabbed him around the neck and slammed him on the ground.

The last guy in the group, the one I'd hit in the ears, was recovered now. He jumped at me, but I reversed it and tossed him aside. This was just in time to see yet another man fire a submachine gun at me. I dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding the shower of bullets.

I got up to charge him, but a man in a black costume jumped on top of him, knocking him out. The man had longish hair, a small mask that covered just enough of his facial features so he wouldn't be recognizable, a tight outfit that I could tell was just thick enough to be protective. He had a large bird-shaped symbol on his chest.

"Blackbird." I said to him, silently thanking my brother in arms.

"Good, you got the name right." Blackbird, aka, Dick Grayson: the artist formerly known as Robin, said.

"I think it's a stupid-ass name, by the way." I insulted. He looked offended, but clearly not offended enough to miss smashing a charging man in the face with a new weapon of his: an escrima stick with what looked like a taser on the top of it.

"Hey, Alfred came up with it." He said, after his attacker was down.

"Well clearly Alfred sucks at names."

"So who should I ask? Batman?"

"Come on, you think Batman is better? 'The Batcave, the Batmobile, a batarang?'"

"Good point. I'll think of something else." He grappled up to a telephone pole and jumped down on top of another guy. I turned my attention over to Cyborg.

There were about 4 guys, all hitting him with bats. His metal skin protected him against most of the hits, but I could tell they were overwhelming him.

I shot the closest one with my grapple gun, then yanked backwards on the line, pulling him to the ground. I sprinted forwards, stepping on his head as I did. I picked up his bat and hit two of them with it, knocking them out with one hit each. Cyborg picked up the last one and tossed him to the top of a nearby car.

"Man, have I forgotten about these." I said, admiring the bat in my hands.

"Thanks for the backup." Vic said, nodding his head.

"Hey, you ever wanted to try something?" I asked, noticing two guys who were trying to stab each other.

"Depends on what it is." Cyborg replied suspiciously.

"You wanna throw me at those guys?"

"Do you really have to ask if I want to throw you?" He said, joking. At least, I thought he was joking...

He picked me up by the back of my coat, spun around to gain momentum, then, as he yelled "boo-yah," tossed me towards the two knife-wielders. I grabbed both of them as I passed and dragged them to the ground. I rolled after I hit the ground, but the two guys were completely out.

There was a man running at me, holding a machete. I snatched one of the knives off the ground and tossed it at his thigh. It stabbed in and he went to the ground. He completely face planted which, much to my disappointment, knocked him out.

There were only about seven men left. They all either fled or got arrested by the police as they fled. A couple of guys had died before we got there, but we had incapacitated the majority, so this was definitely a win for the good guys.

"Alright you guys," Blackbird said as the four of us gathered by the car, "We're done for the night. Good job team. Head back to the Tower."

Zee and I hopped back into my car, and sped off. There were no arguments from me about heading back. I needed to sleep.

"So Danny," Zatanna asked when we' were driving, "what's going on between you and Raven?"

"Well, I like her, if that's what you're asking."

"Yeah, but, I mean... What has happened?"

"Why didn't you ask about it after our date?"

"I... I'm not sure. I don't know. It's stupid. I have a lot of energy. I don't think I got my fill after that fight."

"Well, I definitely feel like I didn't punch enough people if that's what you're asking."

"Jesus, Danny, it's like you get off on this shit, beating the hell outta people."

"No, Zee, I don't..." I said, but then I thought for a moment, as a joke, "Yeah... Yeah, I don't."

"God, you have the worst sense of humor."

"Whatever, you know you think I'm funny."

"Yeah, you're funny. Funny looking."

"Oh jeez Zee, you wound me." I said, laughing. I pulled up to a slow stop by the beach on Love Island and acted dead.

"Shut up, you dork." She yelled, laughing. She got out of the car, went over to my door, pulled me out and pulled me down the beach. She intended to throw me in the water.

That's when I snapped to life. I grabbed her and tossed her in the water. She screeched as she flew through the air and splashed into the ocean. She burst up a few moments later.

"Very funny, Danny!" She yelled sarcastically at me.

"Then this will be hilarious!" I yelled back as I ran down the shore. I jumped as far as I could, and cannon balled into the water right next to her, splashing her with a ton of water.

I popped up and she slapped me in the arm a few times. I laughed, she started to laugh, then we dunked each other in the water.

We both came up and laughed until it slowly faded. We were standing pretty close.

"Things are about to get weird again, aren't they?" I asked as we got closer. I was referencing to a few months ago, when Zatanna and I made out in the middle of the night. We hadn't spoken of it much since.

"I... Don't know." She replied as her face neared mine, "God, Danny, what are we doing?"

"I'm not sure." I whispered. I could barely feel her nose touching mine. Our lips were probably half an inch apart. We both stopped there. "Zatanna, I... What's going on?"

"No idea."

"You don't like me, do you?"

"Why would I like you?" She said, still not moving any further away. She was avoiding my question. "You don't like me, do you?"

"I'm... Not sure." I replied, closing in on her. We were just a few centimeters away from locking lips now.

"This is weird, right?" She whispered quietly, still unmoving.

"Totally." I barely replied right before we kissed. We kissed for a long time. I wasn't sure how long, but I knew it was at least half an hour. We weren't making out, we were just kissing. My hands were on her face, caressing them softly. Her arms were draped around my shoulders. We stood like that for a while, waist deep in the ocean. Finally, it broke.

"God, why do we do this?" She screamed as we got out of the water.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Kiss! Then pretend it never happened!"

I rubbed my forehead. My costume was soaked, but it would dry soon, since the fabric was hydrophobic.

"I don't know." I said finally, "Maybe it's because we talk about shit, you know? You talk about Constantine, I talk about Helena. We talk about shit and all of this... Tension is just there, so we just act on it!"

"We weren't even talking about it this time though!" She replied, wringing out her hair. "God... This is the strangest thing that's ever happened to me."

"You're literally magic and THIS is the strangest thing that's ever happened?"

"I was raised on magic. Magic to me is like punching to you. If I don't do it then I feel like I might explode. I have never had anything like this. I've had boyfriends before. I have made out with people before, but you and me... I don't know what's going on."

"So... What are you saying?"

"I don't know." She said, rubbing her arm, "Do you think we should... I don't know... Do you think we should try us out?"

"I don't know, Zee. Do you think we should?"

"I need to think about this." She said, sitting on the hood of my car, "Do you still want to go to homecoming with me?"

"You wanted to go with me." I joked. She glared at me. "Sorry. I joke as a defense mechanism. Yeah Zee, I think we should. Make this as unawkward as possible."

"Alright. And for now, we just don't talk about this, ok?"

"Deal. Let's get home." I agreed, opening my car door.

"I think I'll walk." She said, standing up, "It's not that far. Love Island isn't that big, and the only people who live here are us."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."


	19. Chapter 19

I woke up in ruined stone building. There was sun shining through a window, and it was very hot. I heard the quick fire of a machine gun. Dammit, another dream. I sat up, and made eye contact with Helena, who was dressed in her Huntress costume, just for a brief

"Helena! You're a sight for sore eyes!" I yelled to her as I stood, going to try and hug her. My voice sounded distant though, like a spirit or ghost

"Goddammit Huntress!" Another man, Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot yelled, "Cover that damn window!"

Floyd Lawton was the world's best assassin, Deadshot. They say his first kill was a perfect headshot between his eyes. He was born with the ability to hit anyone with any ranged weapon. He was a perfect marksman and supposedly had never missed. He was applying pressure to a shoulder wound on the shoulder of none other than Captain Cold.

"What the hell do you think I'm doin?" Huntress yelled at Lawton. She drew her two smaller crossbows and fired a few bolts at unseen assailants. Semi-automatic shots rained on the building.

"Quinn, call in the cavalry!" Deadshot ordered the Joker's Psychotic girlfriend, Harley Quinn. She started to get on a satilite phone and call this "cavalry." A giant shark-man-thing entered the room as she did, carrying an armload of various guns.

"Nice job, G.W." Deadshot said, as he picked up a sniper rifle. "Keep pressure on Cold's wound!"

Another man, I think his alias was Bronze Tiger, rushed over and put pressure on the wound. Deadshot charged the other window and fired at will. I went up to Helena and tried to touch her, but my hand just went through her. I was a ghost to them. She threw her crossbows down as they ran out of ammo, then picked up a rifle out of the pile

"Bad news guys!" Quinn said in her Gotham East Ender accent, "Cavalry ain't comin'. Waller says they can't get any planes here till we take out that AA gun."

"We're dead then." Captain Cold said weakly from the corner

"Hey, we are not dead!" Deadshot yelled, firing five more shots, "Choirgirl here's still gotta get back to her boyfriend!"

Helena, aka "choirgirl" apparently, flipped him off, but took a few more shots. There had to be something I could do! I charged out the window and shoulder checked on of the attackers. Much to my amazement, he crashed into the ground. I charged the small army of their attackers. They were well organized and had the same uniforms, but it was easy to take them out when they couldn't see me or shoot me.

"Uh... Guys?" I heard Helena's voice from the building, "Somethings going on here."

After a few seconds, I heard Deadshot.

"Well goddam! Looks like there is such a thing as guardian angels! I think you'll have to baptize me, Bertinelli."

After I took down the last guy, I woke up from the dream. I woke up feeling lonely. I didn't know if that dream was real or not. I never did know these days. I hated not knowing. The next few days were quick and uneventful. It was school, then home, then training Kara, then slow patrol nights, and finally dreamless sleep. I had hoped to dream of Helena more, but clearly I wasn't meant be.

I sort of avoided Zatanna and Raven. Not actively, but, for example, if one of them was sitting on the couch, I wouldn't sit by them. Just little things like that. Goddammit, this was almost the same thing that happened two years ago with Helena and Meg. But this time, I had Helena on my mind too, which amplified the confusion and loneliness I felt. I missed her a lot, and felt kinda guilty that I was cheating on her. I guess I wasn't really cheating on her, since we had kind of broken up for while she was with ARGUS, but it still felt like it was totally cheating. I should've stopped wearing her necklace, put that reminder away, but I just couldn't.

Friday, the day of the big game, came quickly. I felt nervous about it. More nervous than I should've been.

"You'll do great, man." Justin said as we ran laps at practice. "You're one of the best running backs this school has ever seen. Hell, you're the only person I've ever seen who was fast as Vic."

"I don't know. I just can't shake this feeling. I've had kind of a strange week."

"This is your first big game. It's ok to be nervous." He told me, "Yo, Dan, are your parents coming to the game?"

"Well, my mom's dead, and I wouldn't want my dad to be even within a mile of the game."

"Damn dude, sorry."

"Nah, she died a while back and my dad was never around anyways."

"So who do you live with now then?"

I had to think of a lie. This one was necessary to keep my secret identity, as well as those of my teammates.

"I have a step-dad, kind of." I said, talking about Bruce, "He probably won't be at the game though. He runs a company and always works shitty hours because that's his sleep schedule."

"Damn... You never realize how hard some people have it until they talk about it." He said, shaking his head.

"Well, there's always someone who has it harder." I told him, completely shaking off what he had just said.

"Wise words, my friend." He laughed, "Hey, who you taking to the dance?"

"You know that girl, Zatanna?"

"Dang dude! You're taking her? That's kind of surprising actually."

"Hey, I'm insulted! I got game!"

"Yeah I know! She's hot and has great legs, but she hates everyone."

"She told me she hates me less than she hates everyone else."

"Oh wow, when is the wedding?"

I laughed and shoved him into the grass. He rolled back to his feet and started running again so Coach wouldn't notice that he'd fallen.

"So who are you taking?" I asked once we had gotten back to running.

"Quinlan. Which, by the way, we need to talk about her." He said sounding surprisingly happy. Was this a bad thing?

"Yeah, Sure, when?" I asked, trying to seem cool about it.

"I don't know. Don't worry, it's not your fault. I'm not mad at you."

I was shocked and amazed. I didn't have much experience in this field, but typically people don't like it when other friends get hit on endlessly by their crush. They certainly didn't like when their crushes make out with friends at parties, which I'm sure he knew about.

The rest of practice was uneventful. In fact, the rest of school was uneventful, except for chemistry.

I walked in and took my seat. Quinlan had been absent all week. I was actually starting to wonder if she was ok until she walked in finally.

"Hey Danny, did you miss me?" Quinlan asked as she took her seat. She said it happily, but also as though she were in pain trying to hide.

"Haha, not terribly. But there were a few moments when I wondered where you were." I said.

"Well, I was just out of town." She said with a smile. Although she wasn't as beautiful as Helena, Quinlan did have a nice smile. It was then I noticed some light bruising on her neck. It looked kind of old and was almost fully healed, but it was clear to me that someone had choked her. She didn't have that bruising a week ago, did she? There was no way I couldn't missed that. She had her shirt off, I remembered. There's no way I would've missed bruises on her neck. Especially not then, when the bruises would've looked fairly new.

Despite my curiosity, I didn't say anything about them as class got started. She probably wouldn't have told me the truth.

"So I heard you are going to homecoming with Zatanna Giovanni." Quinlan said eventually. Giovanni was Zatanna's fake last name. Since she didn't have a secret identity, she needed a fake last name so she wouldn't draw attention. She tried to get us to use a fake first name for her too, but it never caught on. "Are you two dating?"

"No," I said as I wrote down notes, "She just lives by me and her parents are making her go, so she told me that we are going."

"Well jeez, if that's how it works, maybe I should've told you that you and I are just going." Quinlan said, laughing. "So where are you guys having dinner?"

"Dinner? Like, together?" I asked her. In movies and stuff, people had dinner when they went to dances, but I had never been to a dance where I had dinner before, granted the only one I had been to was prom with Babs...

"Yeah, have you never been to a dance before?"

"No... Well, I went to prom once..."

"Oh hell, Danny, you need to step up your romantic game. You two can come have dinner at my house. Don't worry, it's going to be football players and cheerleaders, not just us."

"I don't know..."

"Come on, my aunt is coming. She's from a different country and makes legendary food." Quinlan prodded more, nudging me on the shoulder with her elbow. "Ok, fine." I laughed, "What time?"

"6:30. We'll eat, socialize a little, then head to the dance."

"Alright, see you then." I said, cleaning up my stuff as the bell rang.

"You're gonna see me at the game." She laughed, "I'm head cheerleader. I'll be cheering extra loud for you."

I thanked her, then ran out of the school. I had to get home so I could get ready for the game, which was inconveniently 20 minutes after I got done training Kara.


	20. Chapter 20

I ran out of the elevator in a rush. I had to go finish my homework quickly, get changed into workout clothes, have a training session with Kara, eat something, then get back to the school in time to warmup before the game.

I sprinted towards the north wing as soon as the elevator door opened, but quickly crashed into someone. He fell on the floor, I sprawled and fell on the floor.

"Jesus Danny, watch where you're going." Said Bruce, rubbing his head as he stood up.

"Bruce!" I yelled as I tackled him and hugged him around the neck. Almost as soon as I did, I dropped my arms and backed away too feet. "Ahem... It's good to see you. Sorry about that."

"It's fine, Danny." Bruce said as he stood up.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you think? I'm here to watch your big game." He said, laughing.

"How did you find out?"

"Oliver told me about it. He said I should probably go. I told him he was right." He paused, changing to a more reverent tone, "I'm sorry, Danny. I should've came to check on you earlier. I thought you needed a break from me though."

"I did. I think this break will be done soon though. How's Jason?"

"Jason is doing well. He's taken to his training very quickly. He might be a better fighter than even you, in time."

"He won't." I joked, "Your fighting style is good, Bruce, but mine is better. If Jason's learning from you, he won't ever be better than me."

"How long has it been since we've sparred?" Bruce asked, smiling, "Maybe it's time for me to put you back into your place.

I heard the elevator going. I checked the time quickly. It was almost time for me to train Kara.

"I would, but I don't have the time. I gotta train Kara."

"Kara? Who is that?"

"Superman's sister or cousin or something. Wonder Woman 'tasked' me with that."

"How does that even work? You aren't strong enough to train a Kryptonian."

"They are apparently vulnerable to magic. A pair of enchanted boxing gloves, and a whole lot of padding, I have been able to teach her to box, even though she still has to pull her punches a ton."

"Alright, well good luck then. I'm going to go wait in the lobby for Dick. See you at the game."

I said goodbye to him right as the elevator opened. Kara, Roy, and Meg stepped out. Bruce stepped in.

"What's he doing here?" Meg asked me when the elevator door shut.

"He's here to watch the game." I told her. She nodded.

"Who was that anyways?" Asked Kara. I laughed.

"That's Bruce Wayne. Batman." I told her. "C'mon, go get changed Kara. I have to be at the school on time."

She and I went down into the north wing. She stopped at her room while I went to mine. We came out at close to the same time, then headed down to the combat room.

Dick and Bruce were in there on some mats, sparring. Dick threw a succession of speedy punches at Bruce, all of which were blocked. In frustration, he jumped and tried to roundhouse Batman in the face. Bruce ducked the kick, grabbed Dick while we was still in the air, and slammed him down onto the mat. From there, he threw a punch right at Dick's chin, stopping centimeters before it made contact. Bruce had won.

"You're getting sloppy." Bruce said, helping his old protégé up. "You need to not get so frustrated when you face someone who actually knows how to fight. You've been fighting San Fransisco hood rats for too long."

"It's not my fault that there are no Karate Masters who commit crimes around here." Dick complained.

"Danny would probably spar with you." Bruce said, noticing me and Kara. "You must be Kara. Bruce Wayne."

"How do you do?" Kara said, shyly. She stepped forward to shake his hand, but tripped as she did. It wouldn't have hurt her to hit the ground like that, but Bruce, out of our instinct, reached out with lightning fast reflexes and caught her.

"Watch your step there." He laughed. Dick and I looked at each other. He was doing it still.

The reason Dick, Babs, and I knew that Bruce Wayne was mostly an act was because Bruce used what we called his "Wayne Voice." It was slightly higher pitched and sounded a lot more cheery and louder than Bruce's normal tone. He used the Wayne Voice around some people, mostly women, especially when he was trying to flirt. In reality, we weren't sure if Bruce could love, since he never talked about the women be slept with, or introduced any of them to us. We knew that he did frequently have women over, but they were all just covers. They gave Bruce Wayne excuses to be tired all the time or to be absent suddenly. This act had become a way of life for him. Any woman he found attractive, he would flirt with using the Wayne Voice. Was he flirting with Kara now?

"Yeah, sorry, I am sorta clumsy." Kara laughed. If he was flirting, she definitely wasn't getting that.

"Alright Danny, let's see what you've taught her." Said Bruce.

Once she and I were all geared up, we stepped into the ring. It was kind of embarrassing right now, that I had only taught her to box. When I was first learning, Bruce would teach me a variety of martial arts. Boxing was the only thing I could teach Kara though, without ending up in the hospital or ending up with a distinct disadvantage. I still had a disadvantage in boxing, but at least that way I could hurt her back a little.

We sparred for a while. Kara's pulled punches still felt like someone was punching me, even with all the padding. The most I could do was avoid her shots, which became an increasingly harder task as the days went by and she got better. Eventually, she was frustrated with my dodging and threw an uppercut that knocked me clear out of the ring."

"Oh shit!" She yelled once I hit the ground. "Oh god, Danny I am so sorry! I just got frustrated and-"

"It's alright, Kara." Bruce told her as he helped me up. "He's taken a lot worse. Haven't you, Danny?"

"Yeah, totally." I grunted, trying to hide my pain, "Anyways, the worst part is always hitting the ground. Trust me."

"Not to me it isn't." Kara replied, laughing.

"Danny, why don't you head upstairs and get ready for the game? You have to be at the school soon, right?" Bruce said, smacking me on the back. I grunted in pain, but didn't act any more hurt than that. "I think I have a few things I could teach Kara, anyhow."

I went upstairs and got ready to head back to the school. My uniform and pads were all in my bag. I went down to the basement, through the secret tunnel that led back to San Fransisco, then I took a bus back to the school.


	21. Chapter 21

"Wilson," Coach said to me when I got there. "You're late."

"Sorry, coach. My um... Dad got back from work early, and is coming to the came, so he and I were talking." That lie was as close to the truth as it could possibly get. I didn't even consider it a lie.

"Alright. Get changed and get warmed up. You're starting this game." Said Coach. I pumped my fist in the air, then ran over to the locker room.

Once I was changed, I started to get warmed up with the rest of the team. Alex and Mark, who were sitting on the sidelines in their uniforms, the latter in a cast and sling, glared at me but I tried not to give them any notice. This was my time to shine.

A local musician named Siobhan Smythe sang the national anthem. I could hear my blood rushing fast. My vision started to shake as we won the coin toss. My hands started to shake as the ball was about to be kicked off.

I saw it go up, but I was too nervous to see the ball come down. It bounced on the ground suddenly and landed in my hands. Suddenly, as though he were standing in the distance, I heard Coach yelling. It got progressively louder until it sounded like he was right next to me.

"Run, goddammit!" He yelled at me. This was the first time I had ever heard coach yell. I started to book it down the field. The enemy team was running at me, all trying to take me out. I had guardian's though. Justin slammed into a guy who was almost on me, sending them both sprawling. I was on the 20 yard line. I ran, probably fast than I'd ever ran before. An opposing player, a large kid who looked like a truck, was almost upon me. I put my head down, tucked the ball in my gut, then slammed into his legs, flipping him over me. I spun out of the way of another opposing player. I was in the 30 yard line. I jumped two attackers, stiff armed a third, then juked out a fourth. The 40 yard line. A guy grabbed me around my arms, but I held the ball firmly. I started to drag the kid. A second kid grabbed me, followed by a third, then finally a fourth guy tackled me, bringing me to the ground, right on the 50 yard line.

"And to start the game, we have an incredible 50 yard return by number 36, Senior, Daniel Wilson!" I heard the announcer say over the loudspeaker as the attacking players got off of me. The crowd cheered. I looked over as I got up. All of the Titans were there, even Vic and Gar. Vic was wearing a disguise, and I could barely make out Gar on his shoulder in the form of a lizard. Bruce gave an approving nod, and the rest of the Titans clapped and cheered loudly. All the cheerleaders began to do a cheer. I pumped a fist in the air, making the crowd cheer louder, then I got to the huddle behind the line of scrimmage.

There were a couple more plays, nothing noteworthy, until we scored. I was purely an offensive player, so I didn't go in after we scored. Coach told me I did a "damn good job." As i returned to the bench. I was pumped. I wasn't the one who had scored, but I sure helped a ton.

The game went well. Very well. The final score was 76-58, with the Bay High Lions in the lead. We had won. I had scored 42 of our 76 points. It was absolutely legendary, at least to me. Justin took a mic at the end.

"Hello Bay High School!" He said happily on the mic. Everyone cheered loudly. "Let's give it up for the legend, Coach Willis!"

Everyone clapped loudly. Coach blushed, and waved shyly. He may have been shouting louder than anyone there during the game, but now he was back to normal shy Coach Willis.

"And the rest of our team!" Justin said, "Along with the MVP of the whole damn game, the man who kicks the most ass, Daniel 'the Best in the West' Willllsoooon!"

It was my turn to wave shyly now. Justin needed to work on his nicknames, but everyone cheered loudly. Almost as loud as they had for Coach. This is what Kam had felt like when he won a game, I guess. I felt like a hero.

The principal took over now, mumbling something about how Justin cursed too much. Justin took me by the arm and pulled me over to another group of cheerleaders and football players. Meg and Donna were there, as well as Quinlan.

"Alright you guys," Justin said loudly, "After-game party at my place. Only us footballers and cheerleaders. See all of you there?"

There were a couple of 'uh-huh's, a couple of 'sure's, and a couple of 'hell yeah's. Justin put his hand in the center of the circle and we all did the same.

"Alright, 'future state/regional/nation champs, on three?" He asked. Someone complained that-that was too long. "Fine. One step at a time. 'Future state champs.' One, two three..."

"Future state champs!" Everyone in the circle yelled. We all laughed and broke our gathering. Everyone headed towards the locker rooms.

"Yo Danny, you comin' tonight?" Justin asked me.

"Yeah, man, yeah." I assured him, "I just gotta talk to my dad."

"Alright, see you there then."

I walked up over to Bruce, who was now standing on the sideline.

"You did well." He said in a low tone.

"Thanks Bruce." I replied, "I was hella nervous, if you couldn't tell."

"I could, but I don't think anyone else did." He said back, his face expressionless. Great, I wasn't talking to Bruce, I realized, I was talking to Batman.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" I asked calmly.

"Sorry. I guess I'm just anxious to hit the streets." Replied Bruce, shaking my hand.

"It's alright. Go kick some ass. I'll join you later tonight."

"You aren't after you hit the showers?"

"Nah, I gotta head to my pal's after-game celebration. I should be out by 12."

"Good. I've missed having someone as capable as you in the field. Batgirl is often too busy with college to come, and Jason is capable for his age, but no where near as so as you or Dick is."

"Is Dick coming?"

"No. He told me that he was done being my sidekick when he was in Gotham. See you at around 12, Dayhound."

"See you Batman." I whispered before I ran to the locker room. I showered, joked around with the other players, and got into a pair of jeans and my clean football jersey. I left my pads and uniform in my locker. I took my backpack and looked inside to see if my costume was there. It was.

I waited by the bus station until a cherry red porche pulled up. Quinlan rolled down the window.

"Need a lift to Justin's?" She asked, sincerely. I graciously accepted her offer and hopped in the passenger seat of her expensive car.

"Don't you have a car?" She asked after we started driving.

"Yeah, but I didn't bring it."

"Why not?"

"I don't drive it to school. I crashed it a few months back and it just recently got fixed, so I don't want to get it dinged up."

"How did you crash it?"

"Street racing."

"Get real, Wilson." She laughed, pushing me, "Or should I say, 'The best in the west?' Did you come up with that?"

"Hell no! I'm a lot better at nicknames than that."

We both laughed, then it was silent. There was an air of awkwardness in the car. Just a week ago, I had almost drunkenly slept with this girl. She was well aware of it. Hell, she instigated it!

"So Danny..." She said, her voice trailing, "Last week, at my party..."

"Look, Quinlan, I was drunk. I'm sorry, but that's all it was." I told her seriously.

"I know. You thought I was her, Helena. Or you wanted me to be her."

"Sorry, but yeah. You're a nice girl, I think. I didn't like you at first, but now I consider you one of my friends. I just don't think we'll be anything more than that."

She looked at me like I was crazy.

"Danny, I'm sorry, but did you think I wanted something serious from you?" She asked, sounding as though she were totally shocked, "You have way too many secrets for me to want to be your girlfriend. No, I just wanted to make out and screw a little. Despite all your secrets, you are pretty hot."

This shocked me. Here I was, thinking that Quinlan had wanted to be my girlfriend, but she was really just after sex. Koriand'r was right about the human urge to screw, that it was entirely animalistic.

"So, I have too many secrets?" I asked her eventually.

"Yeah. Like, that guy you claim was your dad today? I know he isn't your dad. Maybe like, a step dad or something, but not your dad. You treated him as though he were your boss. Hell, I would be surprised if you told me that you'd killed someone before!"

I wanted to laugh, because I actually had killed someone before. Two people in fact. A drug dealer who had killed one of my best friends, and Helena's mob boss father: Franco Bertinelli. I held back my laughter.

"Ok, sorry about the confusion then." I laughed, "I have never had a girl just want to have sex. Usually they want to date."

"It's fine." She said, biting her lower lip the same way she had before, the night we made out, "I don't want to anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"You have been a pretty good friend. I hope that we can be better friends, so I don't want to have sex with you anymore. I mean, I still would, probably, but I want to a lot less than before."

The rest of the ride to Justin's was nearly silent. The party was boring and uneventful. Bruce was right about parties: they were only useful for establishing Alibis and making people think you were normal.


	22. Chapter 22

I left before midnight. I decided to walk a little ways from Justin's house, then call my car with the remote on my utility belt. I changed into my suit, then got in the car once it had arrived. Now all I had to do was track down Batman. I switched my communicator to Batman's usual channel, one that was very difficult to get on because it was such a precise frequency.

"Yo B-Man, where's your location?" I asked on the comm-link. It took a few seconds for him to respond.

"Don't call me 'B-Man' ever." He said angrily, "I'll send you my coordinates. Be here in 5 minutes."

I sped over to the coordinates and found Batman brooding on a roof. I grappled up to him.

"You're 30 seconds late." He told me quietly.

"Come on, you can't say that in 30 seconds late. You don't have proof."

"If I say you're late, you're late."

"Alright then..." I said, sitting down on the ledge of the building, "What are we tracking right now?"

"Sex traffickers." He told me as he put a pair of binoculars up to his eyes. Sex traffickers disgusted me, so I was glad to take them down. "There they are. Follow the one on the left. Keep to the rooftops, don't let him spot you."

Both of the men split up and went down the street in opposite ways. I followed the one Batman had told me to. He went down the street a ways until he got to an old building. He entered it.

I watched the building for a while. A couple of guys went in to the building, but the man didn't exit.

"Batman, followed him to an old building. I think it might be a whorehouse. I'm clear to engage, just give me the green light."

"Wait until I get there." He told me.

"I don't know how long he's gonna be in there, boss. I don't know if I can wait." A gunshot echoed from the building. "I'm hearing shots, Batman. I am entering the building."

"No, Dayhound, hold posi-" he started to say before I shut off my comm-link. I grappled down to the front door and kicked it down.

"Shit! I told you idiots I was being followed!" The one I had been following yelled. There was a dead prostitute on the ground, along with 4 thugs, the guy I had been following, and a man I assumed was a customer in the room.

All four drew their guns on me. I threw a nearby chair at them, then dove behind a counter. The bullets nailed the walls and counter until all their clips were empty.

"Is he dead?" One of them asked.

"I am not sure... Go check."

"You go check, shithead."

"No, you go check."

"Hey, you in the corner, you wanna go check."

"Hell no!"

"Look, if this punk catches us, he's gonna beat the shit out of you too. Go check if he's still alive."

I heard the customer's footsteps approached me. I scrambled up onto the counter and spring boarded off, clothes lining the customer. I rolled back to my feet and popped out my baton. I pounced on the nearest attacker and punched him a few times with my free hand. Another one ran over to me to pull me off of him, but I hit his knee hard a few times with the baton, probably breaking it. I dropped a solid elbow on the man on the ground to knock him out. Two more left.

The one to my left started to reload his pistol, so I had to get him first. I bolted in his direction, slid on the ground when I got close, and grabbed his ankle. I rolled over him and busted his knee. Then I hit him in the face a few times with my baton for good measure.

The final one, the one I had been following, had dropped his gun and now held a large Bowie knife. He swung it at me twice, I slipped both of them. He punched me in the face, catching me off guard, then attempted to stab me in the gut. I hopped back as I grabbed his wrists and shoved down. I head butted him. He dropped his knife. I held him in a guillotine hold and squeezed his neck tightly. He tried to hit me with his fists but he was too dazed to hit hard. He went limp eventually, and I dropped his unconscious body. Batman came in the room after that.

"I see you have things handled here." He said, nodding. "Even though I told you to wait."

"I know, but people were shooting. I had to act. One person died. There was nothing I could do."

"I know. I've scanned the building. There's no one else here besides the prostitutes. I'll have Alfred call an anonymous tip in."

After he had done that, I grappled up to the roof of another building and waited for him there. He came up in a few minutes.

"Hey Batman, I have been meaning to ask you about something." I told him. He just looked at me. "What do you know about the League of Shadows?"

"Where did you hear about the League of Shadows?"

"I'm investigating the Blaze, as well as something else that I've tried to them. They may have been responsible for both of those."

"Hm... if the Oakland Blaze was intentional then that would meet the League's MO..." He said thoughtfully, "What do you want to know about them?"

"What do you know?"

He sighed, then started to explain everything. The League of Shadows, or the League of Assassins, was a "terrorist organization" who believed that they needed to kill most of humanity in order to save the world. They are all well trained and very dangerous. They are headed by a man named Rā's Al-Ghūl, aka the Head of the Demon. He has been around for a long time. Supposedly, he was immortal, but Batman told me that he believed Rā's was multiple people who had been replaced once one of them got old.

"Maybe I should take over this investigation." Batman said after explaining everything. "The league is more dangerous than anything you've ever faced."

"I appreciate your concern, Batman, but I don't need your help." I told him as I started to walk back towards my car, "Besides, I'm not working alone on this one."

"Dayhound!" He called out. I sighed, then turned around, "Alfred made you another suit. For the dance tomorrow. You can thank him later. I'll see you back at the Tower tomorrow."

I was surprised that he didn't stop me and try to force me to let him help. I was surprised that he didn't take me down and explain to me "exactly what I was dealing with." I was surprised that he let me just walk away without saying another word.

I rolled back to the Tower at about 1. I figured I should get to bed early tonight so I wouldn't be tired tomorrow night, because it was about to get crazy. And I didn't know the half of it.


	23. Chapter 23

"Friend Daniel, are you almost ready?" Koriand'r asked outside the bathroom door. "I must use the restroom for the mirror."

"Don't you have a mirror in your room?" I asked her, as I got out of the shower.

"Do you?" She asked back, irritably. "Daniel, if you are not out in 5 seconds, I am entering. Girls take a long time to ready!"

I wrapped a towel around my waist, combed my hands through my hair, and managed to unlock the door right as Kori got to 5.

"Thank you, Friend Daniel." She said, once again happy. "I did not want to have to break down the door."

"Alright Kori, have fun in here, I'm gonna-" She stopped me, staring at my chest. She placed a hand on my tattoo.

"What is this?" She asked, sort of angrily again.

"A tattoo? Do they not have those on Tamaran?"

"Of course they do, friend Daniel, but last time I saw you without a shirt, you did not have it."

"I got it between now and then I guess. You aren't my mother, Kori."

"Does you're mother approve? Does she even know about it?"

"You're... Kidding, right?" I asked, more shocked than angry, "Kori, my mom has been dead for two years."

She covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, Daniel, I am so sorry. God, why do I always do this?"

"It's fine, Kori. Just get ready." I told her. "Wait, who are you going with?"

"Do you know Collin Carson?"

That name rung a bell. He was some nobody. He had no friends (except for Kori, apparently), seemed lonely and depressed all the time, and never really spoke at all. I realized then that he was pretty much me before I moved to Gotham.

"Why are you going with him? I'm sure someone else asked you."

"Because, Daniel, he is kind and sweet. Do you know how he asked me? He came up to me, nervously said the words 'Kori, we've been friends for a while now, huh?' I replied with yes, then he handed me a flower... A rose, I think it's called, and asked if I would go to homecoming with him. It was sweet. And it was not over the top, like some of the boys who asked me."

I thought this was strange, and I certainly thought that Collin was not going to fit in with the rest of the crowd at Quinlan's dinner, but I wasn't going to tell Kori that. I headed back into my room.

Once there, I opened my closet. Inside was a bag like you'd get from a dry cleaner. A suit bag. I zipped it open and threw on the suit. It was a well-made, hand tailored, perfectly sized charcoal gray suit. Alfred always was the best. I tried once more to tie my tie, a solid forest green to match Zee's dress. All my efforts to tie it were for naught though. I still could not tie it for the life of me.

Luckily, I didn't have to teach myself how to. Bruce was still there, so he could tie it for me. If he know how to tie it, I mean. I wasn't actually sure that he did. I'd only seen Alfred tie his ties, but he had to know, right?

I walked out into the common area. Bruce was there, talking to Dick. Dick looked kind of mad to see me, but I figured it was just because he was jealous that I had to go to homecoming and he didn't get to go. If he had known that I told Oliver not to let him go specifically, he would've been mad at me the whole week.

"Hey, uh, Bruce?" I asked awkwardly, with the tie hanging loosely around my neck.

"Yeah, Danny?" He said, turning to me.

"Do you know how to tie a tie?"

He and Dick laughed lightly. He turned to Dick and nodded, then got up and went to me.

"Ok, I not only know how, but I'm going to teach you. The way I do it is way easier than Alfred's." He took a side of my tie in each hand. "First, you take the little side and cross it over. Then, you take the big side and loop it over and then under like this. Understand?"

I looked down at the tie. It didn't look like a good knot at all. Despite my questions, I nodded.

"Ok, good. Now, you cross the big side over, then take it up under this side and pull it through this loop here, pull it tight, and... There!"

I looked down. It looked like a proper tie now.

"Thanks Bruce." I told him. I looked at my reflection in the window of the tower. I looked like a rich kid. I was a rich kid, I realized. So much had changed in such short of time. It was only two years ago that my mother, Kam, and I were living in a cheap four room apartment. I didn't even have a suit back then, and now I had at least three. What would my mom think of me now? Would she be proud of the man I had become? I couldn't think like that. I didn't want to be all down at the dance. I wanted to be happy, I really did. That's all I ever wanted. No, Danny, push these thoughts from your mind.

That's when Zatanna walked in. She was wearing a skinny, strapless forest green dress that sparkled like it was made of pure emeralds. It came down to about mid-calf on her, but it was very form fitting. The chest was m-shaped, revealing quite a bit of cleavage, but not too much. She was wearing hooped-shaped earrings and heels that made her just a few inches shorter than me. Her hair was beautifully curled in ringlets that fell all over her pale exposed shoulders.

"Uh... Wow." I said, completely awestruck. I felt like a complete jerk right after though. What the hell was I doing, trying to get with Zatanna while I had Raven crushing on me. I looked at Dick and Bruce.

Bruce was stone, as he almost always was, but Dick was not as vigilant. His mouth was wide open, I think I even saw a little drool coming out.

"You're not too bad yourself, Wilson." Zee said, laughing. She tugged on the lapels of my jacket for a second. "Where did you get this?"

"Alfred. He's good at sewing stuff and shit like that. He's made every one of my suits, including me costume. Maybe I should just have him making all my clothes."

"Don't push your luck, Master Daniel." An Old British man said as he exited the elevator behind me.

"Alfred!" Dick and I called out simultaneously. We both dove onto him, hugging him tightly.

"Sirs." Alfred gasped out, "You can let go now."

"Sorry Alfred..." Dick said as we let go. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe the proper term is chauffeuring. I will be driving the limousine for these young people. Miss Zatanna, you look very lovely."

"Thank you, Alfred." She replied as she stuck out her hand to shake his. He grabbed her hand softly and kissed the top of it. She giggled.

"You better be careful, Danny," Zee joked, "I think your butler might steal me away."

"If I wanted to 'steal you away' from Master Daniel, you can believe that I already would've done it. Now, shall we head off?"


	24. Chapter 24

The limo was very fancy. We could tell that Bruce had definitely paid for it, because there's no way the Tower's recreational budget could've afforded anything near this nice. We were all there. Me and Zee, Kori, Donna, Meg, and Kara. Alfred was driving around picking up their dates.

I was sitting in back, next to Zatanna. There were seats in the back, and along the side of the limo, and then parallel to the back row seats near the front. The window separating the driver from the passengers was open.

"I did not even know that cars came this large!" Kori, who was sitting on the bench directly next to mine, said excitedly. She was wearing a dark blue dress. It was covered in sequins, and it fully exposed her back. The neckline actually did come up to her neck, while the bottom of the dress came down to just mid-thigh. For once, she was wearing something that didn't look too tight on her.

"You haven't seen a limo before?" I asked her. "Haven't you been on Earth for what? Four months now?"

She shook her head. The car stopped. Kori got out and went to pick up her date. A few minutes later, she reentered, dragging Collin Carson behind her. He was wearing a black suit that seemed just a little too large on him, but not much. He still looked sharp.

"Friend Collin, have you met my other friends? This is Daniel, escorting Zatanna. Then we have, in order of right to left: Megan, Donna, and Kara."

"I haven't met any of them, but I know them." He said, quietly. His voice was much gruffer and much deeper than I expected it to be.

"Collin," I said, stretching my hand out, trying to be friendly, "how are you?"

"Fine." He muttered, hesitating to shake my hand. He did a second or two later. Why did he seem so hostile?

Kori talked to him the whole ride, including the time it took for the rest of the girls to grab their dates. Donna and Meg had football players as dates, so I knew their dates pretty well. Tom, one of the wide receivers, was going with Meg, and Jake, a defensive linebacker, was with Donna. Kara's date was someone who I didn't know. He was a tall lanky guy, with brown hair and somewhat of a beard grown. I had seen him at school before, but I wasn't sure who he was. Kara introduced him as Lane.

Finally, now that we had everyone, we drove to Quinlan's house.

"Hey you guys!" Quinlan greeted as she answered the door, "Oh hell, you all look fantastic. Come on in, the food is almost ready."

We entered and sat down. I was at one of the heads of the table, Zatanna was to the left of me and Kara was to the right. Quinlan left to the kitchen, and came back a few moments later, followed by a man pushing a food cart, and two other women. The first woman was unusually tall. She had olive colored skin, long brown hair, an athletic build, and piercing green eyes and she was very beautiful. She looked very close to Bruce's age. The second woman was much shorter. She was Eastern Asian, Chinese. Her eyes were dark brown, and her hair was cut just below her jawline.

"Hello, friends of my niece." The first woman said in a heavy accent. I wasn't sure where she was from. I had never heard an accent like that before. "I am Talia, and this is my... Bodyguard Shiva."

The Chinese woman just nodded. She looked to skinny to be a bodyguard, but what did I know, I guess. Talia spoke again.

"I have prepared for you a traditional meal of my country, where Quinlan was born. I wish you all well and enjoy."

"Wait, Talia." I asked, stopping her from leaving.

"Yes, Mr...?" She said, asking for my name.

"Wilson. Daniel Wilson." I replied, "Where did you say you were from again, if you don't mind me asking? I have never heard an accent like yours, and I consider myself quite cultured, even well travelled."

That last part was a complete lie. The only reason I had heard so many accents was because so many criminals I had taken down were from other countries. However, I was genuinely curious as to where she was from.

"I did not say where I was from, Mr. Wilson. Although my parents were both Egyptian and British, I was born and raised in a small country called Nanda Parbat. Quinlan was born there as well."

When she said that, I felt chills go down my back. Was Talia involved with the League of Shadows? More importantly, was Quinlan? Did they know who I was?

"I have heard of it, actually." I replied quickly, realizing that all attention was still on me. "Never been there or met anyone from there, until now, I suppose."

"I would love to discuss my country more with you," she said as Shiva whispered in your ear, "but Shiva is ushering me out. Please, enjoy your dinner."

We made small talk as we ate, but I couldn't concentrate. I thought about sneaking away and investigating, but then I looked at Zatanna. She was having such a good time, and I knew me going all Batman on her was probably going to ruin that. After dinner, we left to the dance.

"Danny, what's up?" Zee whispered to me as we sat in the limo. I guess she noticed that I seemed kind of distant.

"It's nothing." I whispered back. She glared at me. I better fix that sentence. "It's nothing to you. It's um... It's this investigation that I am doing right now. I may have just had a breakthrough."

She face palmed, but did not seem mad. When she made eye contact again, she gave me a smile.

"You never stop, do you?" She asked me rhetorically, "Is it urgent?"

"No. It's just a possible lead. But only possible. It's not urgent."

"Ok, so don't leave me unless it is, ok?"

I promised, then we headed into the school.

The gym was packed already. There was a fast, repetitive song going. I felt uneasy for some reason, but it wasn't because of the dance.

"Hey, Zee, do you feel kind of..."

"Nervous?" She asked, finishing my sentence. I nodded. "Damn. I thought it was just me. Since you're magical too, that means whatever we're sensing is very real."

"Ok... Keep an eye out." I said as we walked into the gym. We danced for a while with our friends, until a slow song came on.

"Hey, Zee, you wanna dance?" I asked. She nodded. I took her waist in my hands and she draped her arms over my shoulders. I pulled her close.

"Danny..." She said as I did.

"Zee, I have thought about this. About us." I told her, "And I want to give it a try."

"Danny..." She sighed, looking down, "I've given it some thought too. I like you, but I've changed my mind."

"Oh..." I said, trying not to sound sad. I guess I didn't do a very good job, because Zatanna put a hand on my face.

"Look, Danny... I know that you still love Helena. I just... I don't want to get hurt. I know that if Helena shows up, you'd leave me in a heartbeat."

I was silent. I wanted to say that she was wrong, that I was in it for as long as she wanted me to, but those words wouldn't come out. That is a lie that I could never tell.

"I'm really sorry, Danny. I know that it hurts you, but you understand that I don't want to get hurt, right."

I nodded. She hugged me. The song ended. She said she was going to the bathroom. I was alone. I found myself sitting by myself in a chair by the wall. I felt empty. I realized then that I was completely and utterly alone, even with abilities, even with my costume, even with my magic. I had no one. Not Batman, not Dick, not Babs, not Kam, not my mom, not even Helena.

My cell phone rang. It was a blocked number. I answered it.


	25. Chapter 25

"What?" I asked rudely as I picked up the phone. I didn't care how rude it sounded.

"Daniel Wilson? This is Amanda Waller, director of ARGUS."

"Oh good," I said sarcastically, "Exactly the person I wanted to talk to right now."

"You're going to want to talk to me after I tell you what I have to say."

"Speak."

"My team, Task Force X, aka 'the Suicide Squad,' has reason to believe that you and your team are at risk. One of the members of Task Force X is Helena Bertinelli, so I would take this advice seriously. How many of your team members are at Bay View High School currently?"

"Six of us. Including me." I answered, switching to my Dayhound voice without noticing.

"Ok, good. You need to get out of there now. I can't explain in the amount of time we have, but I promise I will explain once you're out. Waller, over and out."

Zatanna came back right as Waller hung up.

"We need to get the rest of the Titans and get out here now." I growled out.

"Are you ok Danny? What's going on?"

"No time to explain. Find Donna and Meg. I'll find Kara and Kori."

I walked quickly through the crowd. Kori was easy to find, because she was tall and had hair like flames. I quickly explained to her that we needed to leave, then she helped me find Kara. We met the others by the door and walked out of the gym. Alex, Mark, and Justin were all there. Mark, for some reason, was not in his sling.

"Hey you guys." Justin greeted us menacingly. "Where you going?"

"We need to leave." I growled out. Why was he being so hostile?

"Are you sure? They're about to crown homecoming king and queen. I think you'll probably be king, Danny, and Kori will be the Queen."

"Don't care. We need to leave, Justin."

He pulled out a pistol and aimed it at me. The other two pulled out pistols too. Kara stepped in front of me.

"I think you don't. The Teen Titans need to walk back into the gym." Mark said, waving his gun back toward the gym. Kara took a step forward, but Alex pulled a glowing green rock out of his pocket and tossed it to Justin. Almost as soon as it was pulled out, Kara started to fall over. I caught her.

"A little Kryptonite goes a long way." Justin said, checking out the Kryptonite. "Now, I'm sure the rest of you aren't bulletproof. Get back in that gym."

We did as he said. I carried Kara back in the gym, and put her down on a chair until she had recovered.

"So what do we do?" Meg asked. "I can go through the wall and get help."

"There's no way they don't have others posted outside." I observed. "Anyone have their communicator?"

No one answered.

"Alright, someone take my phone and call for backup. I'm going to investigate."

I didn't investigate for long. One of the teachers got up on stage and announced that it was time to crown homecoming royalty.

"Alright, first our homecoming king is..." She pulled a card out of an envelope, "Daniel Wilson."

People clapped and cheered as I was shoved onto the stage. As "predicted" by Justin, Kori was queen. We were both standing on the stage, confused and worried. Then, our worries came true when the stage exploded.

I woke up laying face down in a small pool of what felt like my own blood. I pushed slowly off the ground. Everyone in the room was panicking. I felt someone grab my sides. No, this isn't how I was going to go out. I threw an elbow at whoever it was, but it felt like I just hit a brick wall.

"Danny, calm down, it's just me." Kara said, helping me up. "Come on, we have to get you out of here."

I limped towards the door. My knee really hurt, but it wasn't broken. I stopped when I saw someone. I was face to face with Kameron.

He was wearing his costume, but everything was right about him. He was even the right height.

"Kameron!" I yelled at him. He started to walk towards me, sword drawn. I limped towards him. Kara charged him.

He surprised her by stepping quickly out of her way. He was still affected by the super serum given to him by Deathstroke. He pulled out a steel brace and put it on her. She fell to the ground. It was some sort of Kryptonite device.

"Kameron!" I yelled again. I was thinking a lot slower than usual. I probably had a minor concussion.

He walked towards me again. When he got close, he swiped at me with his sword, but I dodged backwards. he bashed me in the face with the back of the katana on the way back. I fell backwards, stunned. He picked me up my neck. The wall behind me exploded, sending both of us sprawling through the brick and wood.

"Somebody need a suicide squad?" I heard Deadshot yell. I looked up from the ground and saw him shooting at assassins who were charging him. Great White, Harley Quinn, and Captain Cold all rushed to Deadshot's side. Everything started to get all hazy, but I soon saw the Huntress kneeling over me. She pried off her mask.

"Danny, oh my god, are you ok?" She said, grabbing my hand. It was all bloody, but I don't think that was the source of my blood.

"I am." I coughed out. "It's great to see you. How did you know I was in trouble?"

"I didn't. Waller called in a League of Shadows attack on this high school. I saw you just now."

I looked into her eyes and smiled. Then I remembered Kam.

"Oh my god, Kameron!" I yelled, jumping to my feet. He was rolled over on his side, so his back was turned to us. His mask was in pieces behind him. I raced over and turned him to his back.

"What the hell?" I asked, shocked. It wasn't Kam. Quinlan Kay was wearing his costume. Helena soon joined me at my side.

"Who is she?"

"A friend. What the hell?"

Quinlan jumped up, hitting me in the face as she did. Helena fired a small crossbow bolt into her shoulder. She was about to shoot her again, but Talia came out of nowhere grabbed both of Helena's crossbows. They fought for a while, but Talia was much, much better, and soon Helena was on the ground next to me.

"I suppose I owe you an answer, Dayhound." Talia said as she was joined by Quinlan still wearing Kam's costume. I stumbled back up to my feet, and Quinlan aimed a large revolver, Kam's gun, at me. I put my hands up.

"You see, Daniel," Talia explained, "My full name is Talia Al-Ghūl, my father is Rā's Al-Ghūl, Head of the Demon."

I gasped, louder than I wanted to. It sounded kind of dramatic. Helena looked at me funny.

"Good, so you know who that is. Long ago, before I was born, a magician sought refuge in my father's home. He told my father that he was a seer, a man who could see the future. He told my father that he would be killed by a magical being called the Arbiter of Death."

Shit. So that was why they were after me. Goddammit, they blew up the school just for that? All around us, fighting was going on the titans and the suicide squad, verses the League of Shadows. I hoped to God that they wouldn't be killed, but there was nothing I could do in my current state.

"So my father and the League of Shadows have hunted down the Arbiter of Death and killed him for as long as any current member of the League has known."

"So what does that have to do with me?" I asked, playing dumb and hoping it would work.

"I very much doubt that you don't know, but I will tell you anyway. You, Daniel Wilson, are the present incarnation of the Arbiter of Death."

She drew her sword, then started walking towards me. I felt like I was gonna fall over, but I took a fighting stance anyways. I couldn't give up. I had to survive.

She swiped at me, but I slipped the strike. I threw a high kick at her head. She blocked it with her left hand and tried to swing at me again with her blade. I jumped back, but it cut across my chest. I fell backwards and landed hard on the ground. She raised the blade above her head to finish me, but Batman flew down and caught the blade.

"Talia, you will let him survive." He ordered angrily. He yanked the blade from her hands, bent it, and tossed it aside.

"I am sorry, Batman, but I cannot do that." She told him, taking a fighting stance. He did the same, then they started fighting. She punched him a few times, but he grappled away. She followed, leaving me, Quinlan, and Helena.

"So what now?" Quinlan asked, her voice shaking. She was still pointing the gun at me, but her hand was shaking now.

"Now you walk away, Quinlan." I said coldly as I stood back up.

"Danny, I can't." She said as tears started streaming down her face.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because I have to kill you, but I don't want to."

"What?"

"I am a member of the League of Shadows. My loyalty is to the Head of the Demon. But... You've been such a good friend to me..."

"Quinlan, you need to walk away." I said calmly.

Justin limped over, covered in blood. He collapsed right by the wall next to Quinlan.

"What are you waiting for?" He coughed out, "Kill him already, Quinlan!"

Harley Quinn and Deadshot ran over. They both aimed their guns at Quinlan.

"You must be the boyfriend." Deadshot said to me, not taking his eyes off of Quinlan. She was sobbing now.

"Good to meet ya!" Harley Quinn told me. "Wish it was under different circumstances. You and Choir Girl here are so cute."

Helena was up and by my side, holding me up from collapsing.

"Do it Quinlan! Now!" Justin screamed. I heard a gunshot. I squeezed my eyes shut and winced. I expected to fall over. I expected to die. But no pain came. I heard gasping and coughing on the ground in front of me.

"Helena!" I cried out, falling to my knees. I covered her bleeding wound. She was breathing quickly gasping, and coughing.

"Danny, I... It hurts..." She coughed out. Harley was holding Quinlan on the ground, beating her up, and Deadshot was strangling Justin.

"I know Helena. Stay with me!" I sobbed.

"It hurts..." She coughed more. A lot of blood came out of her mouth this time. The bullet was definitely in a lung.

"Helena, stay right here! You and me, we're in love, right? We gotta get married, and have beautiful kids and live somewhere remote. Somewhere where I won't have to be the Dayhound and you don't have to be the Huntress. We'll live in a two story house that has an amazing yard. We'll get a dog and name him Spot, even though he doesn't have spots." I said, trying to comfort her, trying to get her to hold on. She started breathing faster, and I could tell it wouldn't be long. I started sobbing. "Goddammit Helena, stay with me! Please don't leave me! I love you! Please stay alive!"

"Danny..." She gasped out, then her eyes shut. She took her last breath, then stopped living. I felt the life go out of her. I put my head on her chest and started sobbing.

"Now, that he's done, what to do with the little bitch that fired the shots?" I heard Harley ask Deadshot. I stood up, filled with rage.

"Hold it right there, Quinn!" I roared at her.

"Oh hell no! You don't want to save this bitch, do you?"

"No. I want to kill her. I want her to die a horrible painful death. But I want to be the one to do it."

"I like your style kid." Deadshot said to me, "Let's you, me, and Harley get out of here."


	26. Chapter 26: Nightfall

We tied Quinlan to a chair. She was already pretty badly beat up from Harley. Deadshot poured water on her. She gasped as she woke up.

"Danny... Oh, God, Danny I'm so sorry." Quinlan said, once she realized where she was.

"Sorry isn't going to bring her back." I said coldly.

"Neither is torturing me!" She cried out. She was right, but a part of me really did just want to torture her to death. I punched her hard in the face. I felt her nose break beneath my fist. I punched her a few more times. I grabbed a bat and broke both of her knees and both of her elbows.

I'm not going to describe everything we did. It is too gruesome and I am not proud of the things we did. When we were finished, there was not much left of her. Quinlan Kay, if that was her real name, was completely unrecognizable at that point. Harley and Deadshot left soon after, saying that they were sorry about Helena and that she was a good friend, but it didn't matter much. Nothing was going to bring her back. Torturing Quinlan to death had only made me feel worse. Helena would not have wanted me to do that, I know that for a fact. Despite her being somewhat of a villain, she was a better person than me.

Eventually, Batman came into the warehouse me and the body were in.

"Danny." He said blankly. I knew that he wasn't happy with this, but he didn't seem mad either.

"Hey Bruce..." I muttered.

"Danny, just this once, I will overlook this." He said, sitting next to me. "We can say it was just Harley Quinn and Deadshot. I will let you be a hero still and we don't have to talk about this instance any more."

I looked at him. I was covered in blood and sweat, and I was crying.

"Bruce..." I muttered, "That's not something a hero would do."

He looked down and nodded.

"I need you to take me away." I told him, "I am a murderer. I have killed three people now and I don't think I will ever stop. I need to be locked up."

"Daniel, you... You're my son." He said after a long pause. His voice was shaky, like he was getting emotional, "I can't lock you up. You're my son."

I could see that we were both crying now. I stood up, and pulled Bruce to his feet.

"You need to." I told him, "The Batman can't let this one get away."

*****

The court found Daniel Wilson guilty of first degree murder. They also found him legally insane and sentenced him to immediate care in a mental institution. Thanks to some convincing by Bruce Wayne, he was transferred to Arkham Asylum in Gotham. This way, Bruce could visit his adopted son if he chose. Daniel Wilson, however, was not exposed as the Dayhound. Of course, all of the Titans knew that he was, but they weren't going to speak up. He was their friend. They had loved him. Although he never told any of them, he had loved them too.

**Author's note***

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the 4th installment of the Dayhound Saga.

I need to go on hiatus for a year or two in about two weeks, but I will try desperately to cram out one more entry to the Saga before then. It may not be the ending, but it also might, I haven't decided yet.

If you enjoyed it, leave a review maybe saying that you liked it or what you liked about it. Thanks once again for reading and I hope you read my next one!


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